His Own Worst Enemy
by truephan
Summary: Another answer to all the talk that no story exists after PP. An epic showdown between Danny and his ultimate enemy results in both of them taking part in a plan to annihilate all ghosts, including themselves. DxS,TxVxJ  Rated T for safety.
1. Chapter 1  Many Escapes

**A/N: Thanks for tuning in! I think you will be pleased that you did. If you don't know me yet, I want you to know that this is a totally different story for me,****something that is a little unlike me. I usually like action and quirky humor, but I can write drama and suspense, too. So, I'm very excited about this story, because it just popped into my head and I couldn't stop writing! In fact, it is a VERY long ride and has literally pushed aside every other story I would like to present to y'all. And it's also sorta like another answer to all the talk that no story exists after "PP" (even though I've seen some GREAT other stories out there that take place after "PP"!). But If you missed "Phantom Planet", "Claw of the Wild" or "Infinite Realms", you will not understand some of the references made in this story, because it takes place soon after "PP". Also, if you don't want to know about those shows yet, then please do not read my story for now. Anyhow, for those brave souls who continue to probe, I hope that you'll like it. If you haven't read my stories, "Bewerewulfed" or "Brace Yourself", "A MiniReview", you might be baffled by a few references; such as: Danny obtained his wulf claw powers in "Bewerewulfed" and his supersonic speed in "Brace Yourself". If you want to learn how, feel free to read those stories. But if not, that's OK….just ****pretend**** you read them, so when you are confused, have faith that the referred "facts" from my other stories are "true"! And a very BIG THANK YOU to Angelus-alvus again who lent me his 'E'-ear to fine-tune the summary and hammer out some other glitches in the story. Thank you, as always, my friend, as well as Nicktoons Squad and DPCrazy who also helped me with the course of this story….And, of course, I do not own any characters. Enjoy the ride!**

His Own Worst Enemy

(Beware the Skeletons in Your Closet)

Prologue—The Escape

In a hidden room, far from the minds of everyone, a loud clanging is heard in the dark. The noise occurs in a definite pattern, as if something, or someone, is hard at work. No one notices or investigates the banging, for now. That's because no one expects a bold escape from the Fenton thermos deep inside the sturdy vault of Clockwork.

But that's precisely what Dan Phantom, the evil future ego of Danny Phantom, is trying to do. 

Even though it is bulging outward from within, the Fenton thermos holds fast against the onslaught. But, finally, after taking a great deal of abuse, it begins to buckle.

"Just a little more!" The blue-skinned, red-eyed Dark Phantom snarls while continuing with his task. "And I'll be free! Won't my goody-two-shoes-other-self be in for a surprise!"

He continues to pound at the walls of his prison, using his ectoplasmic energy rays like laser beams. Finally, after so much time being confined and after so many failed attempts to escape, he sees a change in the hue of the darkness he is in and is encouraged. Taking full advantage of this opportunity, he charges up a very powerful ghost wail and thunders it toward the small crack. The thermos yields, releasing its prisoner as it shatters outward with the impact of the howl.

With his green flaming hair blazing as wildly as his laugh, the evil Phantom roars in triumph, "Finally! It's time—and apparently I have all the time—for payback!"

He duplicates himself into four ghosts and they focus their laser energy beams to the four sides of the vault door. In no time, the opening dutifully yields to the attack and falls forward, crashing to the floor in a billow of smoke.

He waits for a response to all the commotion he has just made, ready to attack anyone who nears; but none come.

Satisfied that he has escaped undetected, he snickers, "Ha-ha! Now nothing—and no one—can stop me!"

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Chapter 1—Many Escapes

Meanwhile, the three best friends, Danny Fenton, Sam Manson and Tucker Foley, who are now a couple of months into their sophomore year, are walking down the hall of their school, Casper High. The walls are plastered with posters advertising the upcoming homecoming game and dance.

Trying to ignore the quick glances everyone gives him and his friends as they pass by, Danny smiles self-consciously and finally utters to his friends, "Hey, guys. You know, after all that has happened in the last few months, it still feels weird being here. I mean, everyone is doing their best to let us be as near normal as possible, but sometimes it's too weird." 

Tucker, however, who finally reacts to his long-hidden irritation at the situation, adds a different twist. "Tell me about it! It's so not fair that we really had no choice in the matter. I mean, I don't know why the Deputy Mayor insisted that we stay in school as much as possible after everything we did! So what if we're not "legal" yet! I know plenty of politicians who don't know a whole lot about anything!"

"Yeah, what's there to know about politics?" Sam pipes in. "In fact, what's there to know about all the other lame subjects they make us take? I'm with Tucker!"

His ambivalence suddenly melting, Danny is quick to point out, "Aww, c'mon, guys! It's really not that bad. We're all smart enough to keep up with the work, and they do give us extra help if we need it."

Turning to his friend and frowning in disbelief, Tucker asks, "Are you kidding? You want to be here?"

Danny chuckles nervously. "C'mon, Tuck. We have to do something with our time while waiting for any, uh, you know, future missions. Besides, we still get to have all the fun we're supposed to have in school! Like, for instance, there's the homecoming dance."

"Well, I'm not sure about…." He pauses momentarily, and then seeing his friend's point, adds, "But it could be worse, I suppose. Maybe you're right." He pauses briefly again, and then forgetting his school woes for the moment, teases, "And so who ya taking to the dance, Danny?" 

"Oh, I don't know. Someone charming, beautiful and intelligent." Turning slightly to Sam, he casually adds, "Anyone you know, Sam?"

She punches him playfully on the shoulder.

"Ow!" He blurts out, feigning pain. "That wasn't at all charming!"

"Well, two out of three can't be bad!" She banters back.

He quickly pecks her on the cheek and teases, "Wouldn't have it any other way!"

She swats his shoulder again.

"Still two out of three. Case dismissed!" He quips. She swings again, but this time he catches her arm midway and gently pulls it behind her back and then uses it to bring her closer to him.

"Hey, I'm right here, and the only "PDA" allowed here is mine!"_** -x-**_ Tucker objects, crossing his arms in protest. 

"Sorry, Tucker. You know we usually don't act this way!" Sam responds, her violet eyes softening as she looks into Danny's crystal blue eyes. "But you know, the homecoming dance is supposed to be, well, romantic! But you're right. We should nip it in the bud!"

"Maybe take a big bite out of it?" Tucker retorts.

"OK, Tucker. We'll knock it off!" Danny agrees.

Danny lets Sam go and then turning to Tucker, asks, "What about you, Tucker? Who ya taking to the dance?"

Tucker whips out his PDA and pushes a button which turns the monitor into a miniature roulette. Girls' names spin instead of numbers. But instead of stopping the wheel, he sighs, turns the PDA off, and remarks, "Oh, don't know. So many girls to choose from…"

"Seriously, dude, who ya taking?" Danny eggs on.

"Well, actually, no one! After all the other times I tried, I think I should strike out before I get at bat!" From the look on his face, he is quite serious.

"C'mon, Tuck!" Danny insists. "You've just got to have the girls swarming all over you now that you're the mayor and all."

"Yeah, well, sort of. But that's just it. They swarm for favors, not for me."

Danny and Sam look at him sympathetically and then at each other.

"Uh, you know," Sam begins, "You can always go with us."

"Are you kidding?" He looks at them incredibly.

"No, we're not!" Danny says seriously. "Look, Tuck. We've all been friends, like forever, and do you think that just because Sam and I are going with each other we've stopped being friends?"

"Yeah, Tucker. You're a much better dancer than Danny is anyway!"

"Gee, thanks, Sam," Danny smirks.

"Always charming," She quips back.

Tucker frowns at his friends' lapse back into teasing each other.

"OK! I'll knock it off!" Sam promises, raising one of her arms as if she is taking an oath. "But we still mean it! Will you go with us?"

Trying to sound upbeat, but doing a bad job of it, Tucker replies, "I'd definitely be the third—I mean fifth—wheel, so no thanks. Besides, I'd rather be at home with my techno gadgets, you know."

Just then, the class bell rings.

"Well, see ya!" Tucker says, not sounding at all convincing in his attempts to hide his disappointment.

"We have to help him!" Sam says to Danny when Tucker is out of earshot. "He really wants to go!"

"Well, we'll have to find him someone!" Danny answers. But, suddenly, his breath turns icy and he adds, "But not now!"

He dashes toward the boys' bathroom, but jerks to a stop outside of it. "Uhhh! That's right! I don't have to do that anymore!.. Goin' ghost!" 

The bluish-white double rings quickly engulf him and after morphing into his black-and-white-clad alter ego, Danny Phantom, the teen immediately soars upward, scanning the area for any ghosts. But he doesn't see anything. He turns intangible and checks the adjacent room. Still he sees nothing. Shrugging, he is just about to revert back to his human form when his ghost sense alerts him again. 

This time, a voice behind him challenges, "Beware!" But this voice is different.

Before turning around, Danny chuckles, "What's wrong, Box Ghost? Are you going through puberty?" When he finally turns around, he gasps, "Box Lunch!" He is so stunned at seeing her, he doesn't react to her ectoplasmic attack.

"Yeow!" He painfully cries but immediately fires back, riveting her into the wall.

"Ooooff!" She utters.

"What are **you** doing here?" He demands. Then taking a better look at her face, and seeing that her face is greener and her eyes are blood red and glowing, he says with concern, "You look different. What's wrong with you? And why are you here?"

"Sent to destroy you!" She yells, her eyes now blazing. Then she is compelled to add, "And would you like some pie with that?"

"Not before lunch!" He declares, and turning intangible, charges at her and pushes both of them to the outside of the school. Suddenly, he spies the time medallion around her neck. "Who sent you?" He demands again. "Did Clockwork? I already passed that test, you know!"

Oddly, the girl ghost stops, suddenly in a daze. Her red eyes dulling, she sluggishly responds, "You know, I don't know who sent me or how I got here." She then groans and utters, "Oooh, I feel sick!" But then, as if a compelling force has retaken control, her red eyes blaze more fervently and she challenges, "But it doesn't matter, 'cause you're history anyway!"

She shoots her beams at him, but he easily avoids them. He then soars up to her and just as easily overcomes her. Pinning her down with one hand, he pulls off the medallion with the other, sending her back into the future. 

"What was that all about?" He asks himself, scratching his head. "I better go see Clockwork!"

He tears a hole into the dimension with his wulf claws and dives into the portal. 

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**- _x_- Oops! If needed, here is the translation: '**the only 'PDA' allowed here is mine"** No "Public Display of Affection" allowed here but mine (his "Personal Digital Assistant")**.


	2. Chapter 2  Many Discoveries

**A/N: A big thanks to all my readers!! OH, and if you have the time, check out another awesome story that also deals with the Dark Phantom, though it's on a different and interesting track! It's by Aaron12 and is called "Danny Phantom: Facing the Future"! I do not own any characters! Here is Chapter 2. Enjoy**

His Own Worst Enemy—Chapter 2—Many Discoveries

Danny nears Clockwork's castle and slows his approach. His face melts from curiosity to worry. _"It looks a little too dark in there! Something's not right!"_ He phases through the entrance and just as he enters the foyer, calls out, "Clockwork?" Only his echo answers.

Repeating his friend's name again, and still hearing no answer, he cautiously continues, looking in each room. "Hello? Clockwork?" His voice echoes eerily after entering each chamber. But he still gets no answer, and the place is unusually quiet.

After searching for several more minutes, he stops, frowning with a creeping sense of dread. _"I don't like this,"_ He says to himself. _"It's not like Clockwork to be gone this long, or for this place to be so, well, __**dead**."_

He finally arrives at the main room, which contains most of Clockwork's tools, especially the time medallions and, more importantly, the special device that allows those who enter it to travel through time: the time portal.

He looks around and he notices some time medallions are missing. He then approaches the time portal and sees that it has been activated. It has been set to ten years from now at Amity Park. He finds himself suddenly thinking, "_Why that time period and place? I have a bad_ _feeling about this!"_ But then he counters himself, "_Now, don't get all paranoid about it, Fenton! You know how mysterious Clockwork is! Maybe he just had an errand to run!"_ He looks down at his watch. "Anyway, I'll have to check on him later. It's time for Lancer's class!"

He quickly claws into the dimension and returns to the Real World.

But what Danny didn't know was what actually happened a few hours before he had gone to see Clockwork:

After escaping the thermos and vault, Dan Phantom had quickly become intangible and invisible, and headed out of Clockwork's castle. Then, as he soared into the Ghost Zone, he glanced back over his shoulder at Clockwork's home, and angrily muttered, "I'll deal with you soon!"

He scanned the ghost horizon, searching; and finally, his patience paid off. He saw that an active portal had formed near a wandering ghost. As he was still intangible and invisible, he easily surprised the ghost and stunned it near the portal. He then eagerly entered the revolving aperture.

Now in the Real World, the still invisible evil ghost searched the horizon again. "Now, let's see. Has it been that long? Yes, but, good! This looks familiar! It looks much neater, of course, but this must be Amity Park!"

He continued his search, and then when he didn't find what he wanted, grew impatient. "It must be here somewhere! This place is much bigger than it is in the future."

He went on, and finally stopped when he spied his goal in the near distance. "Ah, there it is! Still as gaudy as ever. Fenton Works!"

He quickly phased into the building and headed toward the lab. Maintaining his invisibility, he drifted from one part of the room to another, hunting. Finally, he spotted what he wanted and grabbed it. Then he made a quick exit via the Fenton ghost portal and returned to Clockwork's castle.

"Now it's time I got rid of that meddling old man," He sneered, phasing through the front door. His jaw was tense with determination as the Dark Phantom headed toward the main room and thought,_ "He has to be there!"_

He stealthily entered the room and seeing his chance, flipped the switch of the Fenton weasel sucking machine.

The old man form of Clockwork, who at first had his back to Phantom, immediately reacted to the noise. Reaching for the button on top of his time staff, Clockwork yelled, "Time ou--….."

But his attacker responded faster than Clockwork expected. Instantly, the younger ghost shot the staff right out of the Ghost of Time's hand just as the Fenton weasel sucked the hapless and fearful Clockwork into it.

"Now it's your turn, old man, to be swallowed up and thrown away! But it won't be so cozy for you!" Phantom contemptuously spat out as he zapped the machine, sending a charge through it.

And Clockwork remembered no more.

"Ha, ha, ha!" Dark Phantom snickered. "This is better than I could have hoped!" He soared over to the staff, turned it intangible and shoved it inside his chest, groaning in pain as it pierced through him. "Now, I'm definitely and totally outside of time! And speaking of 'time', I think that now would be ideal to return to my time period. I have my own lab, my own technology. And since I've been gone a while, I want to see what kind of history the one person I'm most interested in has made for me!"

He grabbed some medallions, entered the time portal, and was transported ten years into the future.

Several hours later, the older Phantom sat at his computer, engrossed in examining historical videos and electronic papers. Finally, he stumbled upon a rather lengthy file on the events surrounding the "Disasterorid Incident", which almost destroyed the world; and, more importantly to the evil ghost, the younger Danny Phantom's role in them.

As he half-reviewed the videos, he ranted, "Mighty impressive for a little twerp! And what about all those other ghosts? They actually helped him out, too? Why?"

He reviewed the documentation again and his eyes narrowed in agitation as he muttered, "I don't believe it! Don't tell me that all those ghosts have gone soft? Then,….they don't deserve to exist, either!"

Suddenly, when his eye caught something on the clip, he interrupted his tirade and stopped the image.

"What's that?" He said as he rewound back to that part. He pushed another button, and the video moved forward again. Immediately pushing the "slow" button, he scrutinized each frame.

Just as sudden, he saw the Disasteroid hit part of a mountain, shearing off pieces of the large green asteroid just as the planet went intangible. He paused that frame, and zoomed to a small area on top of the mountain. His eyes widened when he noticed that those same chunks of rock still remained on the mountain after the asteroid passed through the Earth.

"Interesting," He uttered, his mouth slowly curling to a self-satisfied, yet wicked, smile at his discovery. "I need to retrieve those items and expand my research on them. Something tells me that this will be the answer to my little big problem, Danny Phantom!"


	3. Chapter 3 Future Hints

**A/N: I hope you're enjoying this story. Wow, thanks!! The story has been hit over 100 times all ready!! AND no need to worry about spoilers anymore!! YEAH!!..Uh-hem, well the story changes a little as I edit it, which is very interesting. Anyhow, enough rambling! On to Chapter 3! And, of course, I do not own any characters. Hope you enjoy!**

His Own Worst Enemy—Chapter 3—Future Hints

Meanwhile, back at Casper High, Danny, Tucker and Sam are in Lancer's class, straining to pay attention to him.

"Now, class, biology is one of our most down-to-earth subjects. It comes from the Greek words, _**bios**_, which means "life" and _**–ology**_, which means "the study of". And it is really two major fields in one: zoology and botany. Now 'zoology' is the study of…"

"Let me say it, Mr. Lancer!" Dash interrupts, smiling and trying to impress Danny. "It's the study of **zoos**, right?"

Some of the kids in the class snicker, but they immediately clam up when Dash scowls at them.

Sam, Danny and Tucker sigh and roll their eyes.

"Well, Mr. Baxter, that's not precisely correct!" Mr. Lancer begins, trying to help Dash out of another embarrassing situation. "Now zoos do hold **animals**, so zoology is the study of…"

"Animals!" Dash cries triumphantly.

"That's right. Very good, Mr. Baxter!"

"And 'botany' is the study of, what, Mr. Fenton?"

"Uh-uh," Danny stammers.

"Plants!" Sam quietly hisses, feeding him the answer.

"Plants!" Danny echoes.

And this time Dash snickers, "He may be a hero, but he's no scientist!" Then the jock laughs, "Everyone knows that 'botany' is the study of **"bots"**, ya know, as in **RO-bots**!"

The bell rings before anyone can respond. Once outside the classroom, Danny turns to Sam and says, "Thanks for the save back there, Sam!"

"No problem. Besides, I do know a thing or two about vegetables, you know," She answers, quite pleased with herself. "In fact, I'm reading this fascinating book about exotic plants and herbs, and…"

"Uh, sorry, Sam! It'll have to wait! Goin' ghost!" Danny interrupts as his ghost sense is activated. He instantly transforms into his snow-haired, green-eyed alter ego, and soaring upward, quickly scans the area. He utters, "Now, where's that ghost?"

Suddenly, a large mechanical tentacle materializes without a body, and grabs the young hybrid from behind, engulfing his arms and his entire upper torso. It immediately jolts him with electricity and the boy screams in pain.

Tucker reacts by tapping on his PDA, and then yells, "Hang on, Danny!"

"As if I have a choice?" Danny yells back, struggling to break free.

The massive mechanical body that belongs to the tentacle, with its flaming green hair and a bespectacled face in its abdomen, finally materializes, floating above Sam and Tucker. It's the Skultech ghost from the future! But they look different. Their faces are greener than usual and their eyes are blood red. They do not look well at all.

"What are they doing here?" Sam demands.

And they're wearing a time medallion!" Tucker announces, and then resumes tapping on his PDA.

"I fixed all our programs **and** our arm PDA, whelp!" The Technus part of Skultech smugly informs Tucker. "And they're totally modernized and much more powerful than you could ever imagine!" He activates a button on his PDA and the beam it transmits to Tucker's PDA causes Tucker's tiny computer to sizzle and die.

"Oh, man! I should have deleted all those Skulker programs!" Tucker laments.

"And as for you…" The Skulker part of Skultech says to Danny, "…you're history!" Both sets of eyes—Skulker and Technus, that is—blaze a flaming red. The dual ghost pushes a button and Danny is electrocuted again.

"Eeeyoww!!" Danny screams, gasping for breath.

Sam frantically looks around for something to use against Skultech. She spots a nearby fire extinguisher and grabbing it off the wall, sprays the mechanical ghost with it.

"I can't see!" The Technus part of Skultech yells, moving their shared arms wildly.

"Stop that!" The Skulker part insists. "I can't see, either!" He tries to wrestle for control of the machine from the Technus part, but instead, their struggle inadvertently rams them into the wall. The impact results in the tentacle's unwilling release of Danny and their new PDA's shearing off of their armband.

Seizing this opportunity, Danny soars up to Skultech and yanks the time medallion off of them, sending them back to the future. Rubbing his arms, Danny floats back down to Sam and Tucker and says, "Are you guys all right?"

"Yes!!" Tucker utters, not listening to Danny, and scooping up Skultech's PDA instead. "This makes up for all the PDA's Skulker has ever owed me!" He immediately begins to check it out.

Her face skewed with worry, Sam rushes to Danny and says, "Are _you _all right? What was he---uh, they—doing here anyway?"

"That's what I'd like to know! That was the second old future ghost I fought today!"

Danny's last comment catches Tucker's attention, and he momentarily stops pounding on his new PDA and looks at his friend.

Danny goes on, "Only this morning, I was attacked by Box Lunch, you know, the daughter of the Box Ghost and the Lunch Lady."

"Eeeyew!" All three friends say at the same time, teasingly pointing at each other as if they were shooting guns at each other.

Getting more serious, Danny continues, "And both Box Lunch and Skultech had raging red eyes, looked very sick, were wearing time medallions, and told me I was 'history'. I don't get it. That doesn't sound like Clockwork at all. I don't like it!"

"Come on, Danny," Sam says, light touching his shoulder, trying to reassure him. "Clockwork does do things that seem strange to us, but I'm sure he has his reasons."

"But this is different!" Danny counters. "I also checked on Clockwork after sending Box Lunch back to the future and he was nowhere to be found. I've got a feeling that if he was sending me a message through those two future ghosts, he would have been there to explain it to me. I don't think he would do it this way at all."

"Well, you know him better than us," Sam agrees. "Then, what does all this mean?"

The three stand silently, searching each other's face for an answer, and yet not knowing what to do or say.

Tucker then shrugs and starts punching on his new PDA again. Curious about a strange looking key, he pushes it. The PDA begins to rumble. Tucker blurts out, "Eeyow, guys! What's happening?"

Danny and Sam rush over to see what Tucker is talking about. Suddenly, a holographic image appears over the PDA. Even though the picture and sound are distorted, they immediately recognize Skultech.

"What's wrong with the reception?" Sam asks.

"It must have been damaged when it hit the wall," Tucker guesses.

"Shhh!" Danny commands; and they all watch the projection...

"I'm so glad you came to see me," A barely audible and hard to understand voice off screen says.

"As if we had a choice," The Skulker part of Skultech replies. His poorly focused body is facing an unseen someone to his right.

"Just like Skulker and Technus to videotape everything," Tucker whispers. "And look at the background. It's some sort of futuristic lab!"

"Tucker! I can't make out what he's saying. Please stop and rewind it!" Sam hisses.

"Sorry, Sam!" Tucker says and obliges her.

The picture continues. This time, the Technus part of Skultech takes up where the Skulker part ended. "You demolished our home and then left us a note saying to meet you here or be exterminated is a pretty clear message. So, what do you want?"

"I want you to destroy Danny Phantom!" The distorted voice answers firmly.

The three friends look at each other and gasp. Gluing their eyes more than ever on the image, the teens hang on every word.

Skultech laughs as if the voice is kidding. Then the Skulker part remarks, "You're joking, right?"

"I never kid about these kind of things," The voice casually replies.

This time, Danny squirms, not because of the message, but because of the voice. "Hey!" He blurts out, still watching the image. "That voice sounds familiar!"

"Shh!" Tucker utters, pausing the picture.

"Sorry, Tuck. It's just that I have a bad feeling about this!"

"We all do! But can't we all just finish watching it?" Tucker remarks, exasperated. He pushes the 'play' button once more.

"But why pick us?" The Technus part asks. "You're stronger than us and are very capable of doing it yourself!"

"True, but I have more important matters to attend to," The contorted voice answers.

"What's in it for us?" The Technus part begins, and then answers his own question. "Except maybe not to be annihilated?"

The voice doesn't respond right away, and then it slowly replies with its new idea, "Yes, you're right. You would be under duress the whole time. You might not be reliable. Therefore, I'll have to be sure that you'll do as I say when I say!"

The picture is suddenly extinguished by a green glittering haze, which envelops Skultech and both of the ghosts cough violently on it. After the mist clears a few moments later, it reveals a very different Skultech. They are no longer animated. Each of their faces is an obviously darker shade of green, and both sets of eyes glow a fierce red. But their expression is blank and they look ill.

"Uh, I….I mean, we, don't feel so well," The Technus part mutters.

The voice ignores his comment and orders, "Now, hear me well, ghost! I command you to destroy Danny Phantom…the fifteen year-old Danny Phantom!"

The trio reviewing the video is numbed by the hatred emanating from that voice and command.

Then, a very hazy figure emerges on the screen. Straining to see who or what it might be, the teenagers scrutinize the ghostly shape that drapes the time medallion over Skultech and who then seethes, "And remember. He's history! The history I want destroyed!"

"As you wish, Master!" Both parts of Skultech robotically answer, and the screen suddenly focuses on a familiar emblem on the mysterious ghost's chest.

"Phantom!" Danny gasps, and Sam and Tucker's gasps echo after him.

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	4. Chapter 4 Decisions

**A/N: WOW: the number of hits doubled overnight!! I'm just gushing!!! Thanks!! Feel free to review, too!! And, I promise that I do not own any characters. Now without any more rambling, here is Chapter 4. Enjoy!**

His Own Worst Enemy—Chapter 4—Decisions

The three friends are momentarily stunned by what they just witnessed. Then, Tucker, who fretfully searches both of his friends' faces, moans, "How did he get out?"

"And how did he make those ghosts obey him? What was that stuff?" Sam adds, also looking at each of her friends.

After also returning each of his friends' worried looks, Danny muses, "And how was he able to outsmart Clockwork?" Then his heart leaps with his next thought. "Oh, no! Clockwork! He wasn't there this morning, remember? So he must have done something to Clockwork!"

Sam then announces, "Then, we're just going to have to find out!"

"**We**?" Danny asks, quickly scanning each of their faces again.

"Yes, **we**!" Tucker emphasizes. "You know that we're in this together and will need each other if we're going to have deal with your evil putrid other self!"

Danny smiles slightly at their blind loyalty. "But it's going to be dangerous, guys," He objects, really trying to talk Sam out of going.

"Did you say 'dangerous'?" Another familiar voice chimes in.

"Jazz! What are you doing here?" Danny says, feigning irritation.

She folds her arms and leans against the wall. Closing her eyes and being quite proud of herself, she announces, "Snooping, as usual. But I snooped too late and only got the "going-to-be-dangerous" part. So, what's up?"

They proceed to fill her in. Her smirk dissipates to a worried frown and she gasps as she reviews the holographic projection. Finally, she utters, "You can't be serious that you're going to try to look for that creep?"

"I don't think I have a choice," Danny sighs.

"No, you don't have a choice," Sam echoes. "But we're going with you, no matter what!"

Danny looks at each of them as they all nod in agreement. "OK. But you have to promise that if it gets really dangerous, you'll hi-tail it home!"

"'Hi-tail it?'" Tucker, Sam and Jazz say in unison, teasing him on his choice of words.

"Cut it out!" He objects. "You know what I mean! But, anyhow, we can't make any plans until after school. We've been missing too many days as it is!"

"Don't sweat about that, dude! I do have some pull at the Mayor's office, you know!" Tucker smugly offers.

"And you know that they'll understand that you're just doing your 'hero' job!" Jazz adds.

"And we can still get tutoring," Sam reminds him.

"Yeah, well, I kinda don't want to miss any more school," Danny admits, with an embarrassed smile.

The other three blink at him in disbelief.

"Well, I don't!" He says firmly, making the decision to say what's on his mind. "I have to admit that sometimes the stuff we learn in school has come in handy when we were in some pretty scary situations before, so the more we learn, the more chances we might have to outwit the bad guys."

His friends and sister pause a moment, look at each other and then at Danny and burst out laughing, thinking he is kidding.

"I'm serious, guys!" Danny protests.

Jazz is the first to recover. "I think I've rubbed too much off of you, little brother. But I'm sure that by putting all of our heads together, we'll figure out some way to beat the jerky you!"

"The jerky NOT me!" Danny firmly corrects her.

"OK. The kinda you that you would have been if you were evil!" She replies.

He sardonically quips, "Geez, thanks, Jazz. That's a real confidence booster. I really appreciate all that faith you have in me."

Her voice echoing an unconcerned casualness to his comment, Jazz retorts, "Oh, you knew what I meant, Danny!"

"No, I don't!" He objects, getting more irritated after she touched that nerve. "I am **nothing** like him!"

"I didn't say you were like him!" She insists, now a little bothered.

"Yes, you did! You said, 'kinda'…" He argues.

"But…" She begins.

"**But how** is this putting our heads together?" Sam strongly interrupts.

"Yeah! Looks more like butting heads to me!" Tucker adds.

Jazz and Danny look at Sam and Tucker, and then looking at each other, smile weakly.

"Sorry, Danny," Jazz gently offers. "I'm just kinda freaked out about this whole thing!"

"You're freaked out? So am I! I was barely able to defeat him the last time and even then, Clockwork….Clockwork! I can't believe that I forgot that this is what our getting together was all about! We got to help him!"

"You're right, Danny, we do, but we still have to have time to think of a plan and we can start…right after school!" Jazz insists.

"Right!" Danny agrees, much to the chagrin of Sam and Tucker.

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Danny regretted his decision to stay in school that day. He had forgotten Mr. Lancer's class was on a split schedule, and was—as usual—totally boring; and all he could think about was Clockwork.

But, of course, having his thoughts drift to anything but what Mr. Lancer was talking about was dangerous in itself. Though grateful to Danny for having saved the world, Mr. Lancer quickly became unimpressed with Danny's performance at school. Now that the young hero needed his education now more than ever, Mr. Lancer was even harder on the boy.

"Mr. Fenton!" he yells, snapping Danny back to reality.

"Yes, Mr. Lancer?" Danny automatically responds, dreading the fact that he has no clue what subject or information Mr. Lancer has just been elaborating on.

"Please sum up for the class just how vaccines work."

"Well, uh," He begins, but thankfully, doesn't have to finish, because the wall of the classroom implodes, revealing both the blue mist from Danny's mouth and the futuristic Box Ghost with glaring red eyes.

"Where is he?" The Box Ghost from the future demands. "He's history!"

"Actually, this is biology!" Mr. Lancer dryly quips. And in response to that, the Box Ghost zaps the teacher, sending him into the opposite wall and knocking him out cold.

The rest of the class, screaming in response, clamor out of the classroom, leaving Danny, Sam and Tucker—and, of course, the unconscious Mr. Lancer--with the Box Ghost.

"He looks sick, too!" Tucker observes.

"There's his medallion!" Sam shrieks, pointing to the Box Ghost's chest.

"Time for you to go!" Danny yells, charging at the Box Ghost while instantaneously changing into Danny Phantom.

But the Box Ghost is ready for him and zaps Danny first, sending the teen reeling into some school desks.

"Ouch!" Danny utters, holding his head. But he instinctively jumps up and counterattacks.

But the Box Ghost blocks Danny's rays with his own energized, well, box shield, and again retaliates, hitting his mark, and this time sending Danny into some shelves.

Slightly dazed, Danny is able to just avoid the future ghost's next attack, and soars upward.

Meanwhile, Tucker, frantically searching a way to help his friend, grabs a nearby empty box and calls to the Box Ghost. "Hey, Box Ghost Dude! Don't you want my box?"

"Yes, I must have you're square container!" The older ghost slowly mutters, his head tingling in confusion.

Danny takes advantage of the moment and dives at the ghost, snatching the medallion off before the Box Ghost can attack a very nervous Tucker.

As the Box Ghost vaporizes back to the future, Danny moans, "That's another one! What is the jerk really up to? He must have known that I can easily send them right back."

Sam sarcastically replies, "Well, shouldn't we find out now,…" She looks up at the clock. "…or do you want to be in school for the last fifteen minutes of the day?"

"OK, let's get Jazz and get going!" Danny agrees.

"Finally!" Sam and Tucker say in unison.


	5. Chapter 5  Parallel Investigations

**A/N: Yeah, it's a holiday weekend! Happy Labor Day, everyone!! And here is my little surprise. Just to celebrate—and for your reading pleasure-- I'm posting four, that's right, FOUR chapters this weekend! Starting tonight! And also in honor of Labor Day, I still do not own any characters, and will not own them in the future. So, can I stop saying that for the rest of the story, please? Instead, I will use the initials "IDNOAC" to stand for the sentence, OK? Thanks!!! Here is Chapter 5. Enjoy!!**

His Own Worst Enemy—Chapter 5— Parallel Investigations

The foursome returns to Danny and Jazz's house.

Mr. and Mrs. Fenton, each holding some sort of ghost gadget, meet them at the door.

"Aren't you home from school a littler early today?" Danny and Jazz's mother, Maddie, asks.

"Yeah. It looks like they're home fifteen minutes early!" Jack, their father, observes after looking at the clock.

"_Geez, how do they __**know**__ these things?"_ Danny thinks to himself, but says to his parents, "Well, yes, Mom. Dad. We're home early. You know. I have stuff I have to do."

"Like ghost hunting?" Maddie squeals with delight. She still fiddles with the gadget in her hand as she speaks.

"No, not really!" He answers truthfully.

"Yeah, Mom and Dad," Jazz pipes in. "Sometimes we're in cahoots with each other, you know, and well, you understand."

"Oh, I get it!" Jack interrupts. "I always did like riding in the last car on the train! You kids go have fun at the carnival, then!"

Everyone there looks inscrutably at Jack.

"Anyway, Sweetie," Maddie continues, speaking to Danny. "We haven't been able to help you out with your ghost hunting yet. Don't forget that we're always prepared and would like to do something juicy every once in a while."

Danny laughs nervously and replies, "Oh, sure, Mom. I promise that when something juicy comes around, I'll let you know."

"Thanks, son," Jack interrupts again. "And have a great time at the carnival."

"But,.." Tucker begins to protest.

"**Buttered** popcorn does sound like a great thing to have when we get there!" Sam completes the sentence for Tucker.

"And, so, can we borrow the specter speeder, then?" Jazz dares to ask.

"Uh, why would you need that, Honey?" Maddie inquires, stopping her fidgeting momentarily.

"Because it gets great gas mileage?" Jazz suggests, wincing at her lame reason.

"Well, we do have to do our part in saving energy, right?" Her mother says, pushing a button that activates the new gadget she has been working on.

"We sure do, Mom," Jazz agrees. "So can we take it? And even though this is Friday, I promise we won't be out late!"

"OK, Honey, but please be careful. We have to clean out the hazardous fuel residue coils when it reaches two-hundred thousand miles!"

Jazz replies, "Sure, Mom, and thanks!"

"Yeah, Mom, thanks!" Danny echoes.

"Ditto, Mr. and Mrs. Fenton," Sam and Tucker say as the four walk out of the room and head toward the basement.

When they get to the basement, Tucker turns to his friends and asks, "Just what was that all about? I thought that there would be 'no more secrets'."

"That's right!" Jazz agrees. "But we don't want Mom and Dad to come on every mission, do we? I mean, they're not exactly as experienced as all of us, especially when it comes to knowing about the Ghost World and all."

"Zone. It's the Ghost **Zone,**" Danny corrects her.

"Whatever!" She retorts. "We'll just have to ease them into all of this when it's not so frenzied a situation."

"And exactly when will it **not** be frenzied?" Sam dryly counters.

They all look at each other and smile, knowing the answer.

They quickly hop into the specter speeder, penetrate the ghost portal, and soar toward Clockwork's lair in the Ghost Zone.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the meantime, the Dark Phantom has been extremely busy in his futuristic lab, furiously mixing chemicals and checking the products of his experiments. Tapping on his computer to verify his results, a smug sneer snuggles around his mouth when the results are positive.

Not far from where he is working, there is a glass container, which has a strange glowing substance in it. He flies over to the container and opens it. With his bare hands, he lifts the green colored rock and places it on his examination area. Carefully, he chips off a piece of it and using a mortar and pestle, grinds it up. The dust he creates doesn't faze him. "Yes! Everything is going according to my plans! And because of that idiot Clockwork's staff, I cannot be harmed by this stuff. That makes all my experiments and preparations easier and quicker. It won't be long now!"

After mixing the crushed substance with chemicals, Phantom takes a droplet sample and places it under his microscope. Satisfied by what he sees, he goes to another jar nearby and with a pair of tweezers, retrieves a very small green ghost flea. He takes a new slide and placing the flea on it, inserts it under his microscope. He then adds a new micro-droplet of his concoction onto the flea. He looks through the lens and snickers as the ghost flea turns greener, it's eyes turn red, and it lies still. Adding a little more solution to his victim, the flea shrieks, convulses, turns black, and then shrivels to nothing.

"Yes! It's been perfected! I can now control the dosage in whatever way I want: to get the ghosts to obey me, or to destroy them! And, before long, I **will **get rid of all of them, and then I will conquer the entire worlds—ghost and human—soon, ten years sooner, to be precise! And now that the prototype gaseous solution proved to be very effective in keeping my younger-brat-self distracted with those inferior ghosts I sent after him, I can now work on mass producing this improved and more potent gas."

"Too bad that the sickness caused by this solution will eventually eradicate the ghosts—unless, of course, I choose to give the stronger, lethal dose sooner. Having control over any ghost will be worth it even if it's not for long. And how delicious it is that they will not be able to keep themselves from inflicting enough damage to the Real World so that the humans will be totally helpless to resist me! After the ghosts and I are finished with the Real World, the humans will forget all about any good the ghosts ever did for them in the past--forever. And then, of course, the ghosts will conveniently wither away, so they will never again interfere with me!"

He smirks, delighted with his scheme. "And, of course, I'll start the revolution by infecting the one responsible for making me a prisoner!"

He immediately goes to work in mass-producing his compound. And because he has inflicted the task on other unwilling but controlled ghosts, the poisonous gas is soon ready.

"Now, it's time!" He screams, laughing so wildly that his echo shakes the lab.


	6. Chapter 6 At Clockwork's Castle

**A/N: "IDNOAC". Now here's Chapter 6. Enjoy!**

His Own Worst Enemy—Chapter 6—At Clockwork's Castle

When Danny, Jazz, Sam, and Tucker finally reach where Clockwork's castle should be, they cannot see it right away.

"Where is it?" Tucker asks.

Pointing in the distance, Sam says, "Uh, what's that big black hole over there?".

"It's Clockwork's castle! But it wasn't that dark when I left it this morning," Danny anxiously replies.

"I don't like the look of that!" Jazz utters. She slows the ship and coasts toward the black hole.

Looking at his friends, Tucker volunteers, "Maybe Clockwork's gone on vacation and he doesn't like to leave the lights on?"

"Since when does Time have time for a vacation?" Sam retorts.

"Wow!" Jazz utters, changing her mind, as the speeder is close enough for her to make out the castle. "It's both beautiful and creepy!"

The spacecraft finally stops at the front entrance. Danny opens the hatch and floats outside. Tucker quickly reaches for his friend's outstretched hand and jumps. Then Sam follows, grabbing Tucker's hand, and then finally, Jazz does the same with Sam's hand. They all soar over to the door and enter the darkened foyer.

After he places everyone down on the floor, Danny charges up a ball of light and says, "There has to be a light source somewhere around here!"

Sam locates a switch and turns it on. All the candles on the wall suddenly light up with ghostly flames.

"Wow! And with all the modern conveniences!" Jazz utters, still enthralled.

"Clockwork?" Danny calls out, his voice echoing eerily down the long corridor in front of them. "Let's spread out and check each room. Then we can meet back at the main viewing room, OK?" Danny suggests.

"But I don't know where that is!" Jazz points out.

Danny chuckles slightly at the reminder, "Oh, right! Well, then, you should go with one of us."

"She can go with me!" Tucker is quick to volunteer, as he is nervous about the situation. "Uh, that is, it's for your safety!" And not really thinking clearly because he's so nervous, he awkwardly holds up his PDA and adds, "I'll protect you with this!"

"Uh, thanks?" Jazz says unconvincingly.

"OK. Then we'll all meet back in the main room," Danny decides.

Tucker, realizing that his PDA really won't be much help if they should be attacked, stutters, "Uh, but, Danny, what if we run into some real trouble?"

Sam whips out the three prototype Fenton wrist ray guns and triumphantly announces, "We use these!" After giving one of them to Tucker and Jazz, she handily twirls hers around her index finger.

"Man, she really likes those things, doesn't she?" Tucker says to Danny in aside.

"Yeah. Remind me not to get her angry!" Danny says wryly back.

"Hey, you're on your own with that one, dude! It's one thing to get between a boyfriend and girlfriend and then another thing to get between a quick-tempered couple!"

"What? I'm not quick-tempered!" Danny objects, his face scowling in irritation. "And neither is Sam!"

"OK, man. I don't know what I'm saying. I mean, I'm just saying…"

"Saying what?" Sam asks, butting in.

"He says we're quick-tempered!" Danny informs her.

"No, we're not!" She insists, defiantly thrusting her hands on her hips.

"Look, I'm just saying…" Tucker begins, just to be interrupted again, but this time by Jazz.

"Hey! Aren't we going to look for Clockman or what?" She asks.

"Clock**work**!" Danny snaps back.

"OK. Clock**work**!" She corrects herself, rolling her eyes. "Always the semantics with you! So are we going or not?" 

No one answers at first. Then Danny says, "Jazz's right. We don't have time to argue. Can we all just search for our friend like friends?"

He smiles weakly, offering a truce.

Tucker and Sam look at each other and then at Danny, and return the weak smiles. "Sure," They both say and then Danny heads in one direction, Sam in another, and finally, Tucker and Jazz in the final direction.

"What was **that **all about?" Jazz asks as she and Tucker begin their search from one room to the next.

"I don't know!" Tucker exclaims, shrugging. "I don't know what came over me. Yeah, I'm a little skittish about being here, but I didn't mean to take it out on Danny and Sam! They're only, like, my best friends. I never fight with them like this! What's wrong with me?"

"Maybe you're a little jealous?" Jazz suggests, her voice taking the tone of a psychologist.

"Me, jealous? Of what?" 

Jazz responds with one of her eyebrows arching up like a "you-know-what-I-mean" kind of arching up.

"No! I'm not jealous of them being together! I always knew they would be. It's just that…"

"Yes?" She eggs him on, opening a door to the right and peeking in.

"Well. OK. It's not the same. But it **is** the same! I mean, we still hang out and do neat stuff like ghost hunting and stuff. But then, sometimes they get kinda secretive. Like I'm the third, I mean, fifth wheel. Just like the dance!"

"Dance? What dance?" Jazz asks, looking around the room and then quickly figuring out what he means, adds, "Oh! You mean the homecoming dance?" 

"Yeah, the homecoming dance. They, of course, are going, and going together, and then here I am. Just here."

She opens the door to the next room and quizzes, "They didn't forget to invite you, did they?"

"Oh, no, they did invite me! But that's beside the point. I really think they felt like they had to."

"That doesn't sound like Danny and Sam at all to me," She answers, opening a closet and inspecting it.

"It doesn't?" Tucker responds, cheering a little.

"No. They want you to have fun and, of course, to have fun with them. Simple as that. But you know, I think that there's a normal adjustment period all friends go through when something like this happens. I have to admit that I felt a little jealous about them, too!"

"You were?" He asks, surprised, taking his turn at opening the next room.

"Yeah. Here I was finally getting to know my little brother as a good friend and then all of the sudden, there's him and Sam. I felt like I was butting in." 

"But you always butt in!" Tucker interjects, closing the closet they just inspected.

"Geez, thanks! But I think you know what I mean! But if you look at it another way, he's still my brother and your best friend. And in the end, nothing can really change that. Instead, I get a sister and you still have your two best friends!"

He smiles weakly, encouraged by her words. "Gee, Jazz, thanks! I never really thought about it like that before! I mean, they really haven't excluded me from anything. We still hang out. And I guess they should have some 'alone time'. And I always have my techno stuff to work on!"

"Good idea, Tucker. Now about the dance?" She continues, looking into still another closet. "I haven't got a date yet. Do you want to go with me?"

Getting nervous again awfully fast, Tucker stammers, "What? Are **you** asking **me **out?"

"Well, you want to go, right?"

"Uh,…," But Tucker's answer is interrupted by a very loud noise.

"What was that?!" Jazz gasps.

"Sounds like an ectoplasmic blast from a wrist ray gun!" Tucker yells. "Sam must be in trouble!"

"Well, let's go!" Jazz insists, and they both forget what they were talking about.

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	7. Chapter 7 Uncomfortable Relief

**A/N: "IDNOAC", again. Now here is Chapter 7. Enjoy!**

His Worst Enemy—Chapter 7---Uncomfortable Relief

"AAARRGGHH!!!" Sam screams, shooting at Johnny 13's Ghost Shadow. Any blast she throws at it merely passes through the various holes it creates to avoid them. It screams in anger and charges at her, its claws ready to strike.

"Oh, no!" She blurts out as she backs into a corner. Her thoughts flood out, _"He's like the others! His eyes are flaming red, too! And who knows if he's greener under all that blackness…But where's his medallion?!"_ But she can't think about it any more. Continuing to fire--ineffectively of course--she warns, "Get away, you creep!"

The creature ignores her and swoops upon her, its claws larger and more menacing. She gasps.

But before the Shadow can strike, it reels around at the loud noise behind it just as Danny finishes blasting the door open with his energy rays.

"GRRHH—AARRGHH!" The Shadow shrieks. Danny can clearly see its red eyes flame more fiercely as it turns to attack him.

Soaring upward, he creates a large ball of energy between both of his hands, and deadpans, "Don't tell me. I'm history!" But before he can throw it at the creature, Tucker and Jazz burst in.

"Glad you're all here!" Danny announces and then throws the ball of energy at the Shadow, which quickly engulfs it. "OK, guys, all together now!" His friends instinctively know what to do and all four of them concentrate all of their respective ectoplasmic rays at the trapped creature. The light energy they create is powerful enough to dispel the Shadow's power and he phases back to the future.

Floating back down to his friends, Danny rushes to Sam, grabs her by both hands and asks, "Are you all right, Sam?"

She nods; and, relieved that she is OK, he lets go and continues, "He must have been from the future, too! His eyes were like the others sent before! Why is Phantom doing this?"

"To destroy you?" Tucker points out.

But why this way? What does it all mean?" Sam asks.

"I don't know," Danny answers. "But did any of you find Clockwork?"

They shake their heads.

"Neither did I! Well, we haven't checked the main room yet. Let's go!"

They all travel together this time, ready for anything they might encounter. Finally, they arrive at the main room of Clockwork's castle. It, too, is empty except for various cogwheels and the time portal-viewing globe, which is still adjusted to ten years in the future.

Commenting really to himself, Danny blurts out, "Well, that hasn't changed."

"What do you mean?" Jazz queries.

"I was here earlier today and that is how I found that time portal," He explains, pointing to the device.

"Time portal?" Jazz again quizzes.

Half-answering her, Sam adds, "And that must have been how all those future ghosts got here!"

Tucker turns and explains to Jazz, "It's a special machine that Clockwork has that lets people, ghosts and things travel throughout time."

"Oh," Jazz utters, though she's still confused.

His left arm supporting his right elbow in front of him, Danny taps his cheek with his right index finger, and guesses, "That makes sense, but, besides the fact that they want to waste me, we really don't know why Phantom is doing this."

"Do you think that maybe Clockwork forgot to switch the portal off?" Tucker volunteers, obviously grasping at straws.

Danny frowns a little, shakes his head and replies, "I don't think so, Tuck. Clockwork's much too meticulous, which is why I still don't like it that he's not here! Let's look around some more for clues."

The friends oblige, but no matter how they would like it to be otherwise, there is no place to look since the main room is so sparse.

Meanwhile, Tucker inadvertently leans against one of the far walls and phases right through it. "Eeeyow!" He yells and the other three teens gasp and look where they heard his scream.

Jazz also screams when she sees only his feet sticking out the wall, but Danny and Sam laugh.

"Tucker, are you all right?" Both Danny and Sam ask, still chuckling.

"All right? Is he alive?" Jazz utters, horrified.

"I'm OK!" Tucker's muffled voice answers, and Jazz screams again in response.

Danny, placing his hand on his sister's shoulder, assures her, "Didn't we tell you? Humans are the ghosts in the Ghost Zone! You can phase through the walls and stuff on purpose, and sometimes, accidentally!"

Jazz is not amused.

"Hey, guys!" Tucker calls, one of his arms now jutting through the wall and shaking to get their attention. "I found something!" The other arm juts through the wall holding the Fenton weasel machine.

Jazz again screams at the sight of only Tucker's arms, Fenton weasel, and legs sticking out of the wall.

"What's that doing here?" Danny asks, and flying up to Tucker and reaching through the wall, he helps his friend through the rest of it.

Sam and Jazz quickly join them.

"Well, turn it on and see what happens!" Sam suggests.

Danny flips the 'reverse' button and turns it on. In an instant, the four teens gasp when the incapacitated old man form of Clockwork rematerializes right before their eyes. They immediately drop to their knees next to the unconscious ghost. They look at each other—Danny, Sam and Tucker in disbelief, and Jazz in shock at the sight of another ghost.

Danny is the first to speak. "Clockwork? Are you OK?"

Clockwork doesn't stir.

"Is he…?" Tucker begins.

"He's already…!" Sam retorts.

Suddenly, the oldest form of Clockwork groans and slowly opens his eyes. He's relieved that it's Danny, Sam, Tucker and another human who are looking down at him, rather than whoever attacked him.

"I'm out?" He moans, focusing his eyes. "The last thing I remembered was being sucked into something and then I felt ectoplasmic energy jolting through me and then now I see you, Danny, Sam, Tucker and …"

"Jazz!" Jazz says, automatically throwing her hand forward to shake his hand. Quickly realizing her mistake when the old ghost cannot reciprocate, she pulls it back around the back of her and looks away, embarrassed.

"That's right. Jazz." The old Clockwork turns to Danny and utters, "Nice to finally meet your sister, Danny."

Then looking back at Jazz, he remarks, "The last time I saw you, you were floating in one of my time bubbles."

"I was?" She replies, not remembering that incident at all.

The old man form of Clockwork groans again and tries to sit up. Danny and Tucker immediately come to his aid.

Still supporting the old ghost, and hoping not to hear the name he's worried about hearing, Danny asks weakly, "Do you know who did this to you?"

"I'm not really sure, but I can…" His head jolts around, searching. "My staff! Where's my Time Staff?"

"You don't have it?" Tucker anxiously asks.

The old ghost replies, "I had it…but…..NO! It was snatched out of my hand right before I was sucked into that thing! But now, oh, no!" He puts one of his hands over his forehead.

"What's wrong?" Danny frets, alarmed by Clockwork's strange behavior.

"He's not changing!" Sam blurts out, finally figuring out what was especially odd about the ghost since his release.

"What do you mean he's not changing?" Jazz asks, bewildered.

Sam answers her. "Usually, he morphs between being an old ghost, to a kid ghost and then to an adult ghost! But he hasn't changed at all since we got him out of that thing!"

"Sam's right! What's **wrong**, Clockwork?" Danny demands, his face lined with worry.

"My Time Staff is the source of my power," He begins to explain. "Without it, I am in stasis; that is, stuck in the form I was in when the staff was taken. And eventually, as the effects of that power wear off, I will phase permanently to the other side, our ghost oblivion."

"No!" Tucker, Sam and Danny gasp. Jazz, not sure of what that means, is speechless.

The old Clockwork continues. "And without the right master for the staff, time itself could very well be disrupted for eternity!"

All four teens gasp.

"What can we do?" Danny begs. "I can't let that happen!" And then his other burning thought comes back into focus and he adds, "We have to tell you! The only one who could have done all of this to you, and sent all those ghosts to attack me, is…is **him**! The ten-years-from-now Dark Phantom!"

"What?" Clockwork utters, shocked. "What do you mean?"

The friends fill him in on all the details earlier that day and with each new piece of news, Clockwork's face gets more and more skewed with dread.

"But that's not possible!" Clockwork exclaims, trying to convince himself more than the others. He rushes over to where Tucker had phased and pushes a secret button on the wall. A secret door obediently pops open. After checking inside, he whirls around and with complete distress in his eyes, yells, "Yes! Phantom has escaped!"

"And as if it isn't bad enough news about what happened to you, what will happen to the rest of us now that he has the staff?" Danny blurts out, really hoping not to hear more bad news.

The other three teens are also afraid to guess the answer and they are not especially relieved when Clockwork tells Danny, "Yes, that voice! I thought I knew that voice! It could only have been him who attacked me and took my staff. And if he has the staff, he'll be **invincible** as he will exist outside of time! So there's **no telling** what he is capable of doing! As for me…" He groans again and his friends surge closer to him. "I'm powerless now! I will age and wither away. I cannot help you!"

"Then we'll just have to get the staff back!" Danny announces, now more determined than ever.

"And how are we going to do that?" Jazz begs the question.

"Well, I haven't figured that part out, yet!" He admits. Then glancing at the time portal, a thought strikes him. "Do you think he's gone back to the future, Clockwork?"

Clockwork, still weakened, struggles to look at the viewing globe. "It's very possible, especially since the other ghosts you told me about obviously didn't come here on their own. But when he's in his own time period, he's especially powerful!"

"Does that mean that when he's in my time, he's not as powerful?" Danny probes, looking in earnest at the old ghost.

"Yes, but if he has the staff, it won't matter. He'll be as powerful—or more powerful—than he is ten years from now."

Danny brightens a little and then announces, "Well, then, we'll just have to get him here, take the staff, and defeat him here!"

"Piece of cake!" Tucker says woodenly.


	8. Chapter 8 A New Ally

**A/N: Go ahead and enjoy Chapter 8, even when "IDNOAC"!**

His Own Worst Enemy—Chapter 8—A New Ally

Danny and Tucker help the old ghost to his bed, propping him up so that Clockwork can see them. Jazz stands next to them, not knowing what else to do or say. Instead, she merely pats the old ghost on the hand. Touched, Clockwork smiles weakly but gently at her.

Sam, however, ever the curious, has already started to inspect the room. She notices that even though Clockwork's bedroom is sparse, he has a rather large collection of odd books. Enthralled by them, she begins to browse, but does not dare touch them.

One book in particular draws her to it. At first, it looks like a fairly small, yet elaborately decorated, brown covered book. But as she nears it, it changes in color and begins to glow a golden color. She gasps and everyone else in the room turns and looks at her.

"Are you all right, Sam?" Danny frets.

"Yes, I'm all right. But see that book there?" She points to the glowing book, "That is the strangest book I've ever seen! I haven't even touched it—and believe me, I wouldn't have tried, either—and it started to glow as soon as I got near it!"

Clockwork, observing it all, encourages, "Go ahead. Take it!"

"Really?" Sam stammers, awed. "I couldn't! It looks priceless!"

"It is," Clockwork calmly replies. "But it recognizes someone who would use it the right way when it sees them."

"Huh?" Tucker blurts out. "How is that possible?"

Clockwork answers, "In the Ghost Zone, almost anything is possible. That's no ordinary book. It's a ghost book. And among many things about ghosts, it has lots of information about ghost plants and herbs."

"Ghosts need such a thing?" Tucker asks, totally baffled. "But why?"

"We have our problems here, too!" Clockwork explains. "We need to rely on our skeletal remedies, if you pardon the pun."

"So, you haveta, like, beware the skeletons in your closet, right?" Tucker puns back.

The others groan, but Clockwork smiles and gently answers. "Well, not quite. These aren't evil plants and herbs, and a lot of ghosts know about them. But they are secrets we hide from the humans."

"Why?" Tucker is still compelled to ask.

"Because they might use them to hurt us! We are very private here, you know," The old ghost remarks.

"Not from my experience!" Danny quips back. "They certainly like to cause a lot of havoc in our world!"

"Well, there are all kinds of ghosts, of course, Danny. But a lot of us just want to be left alone."

In the meantime, Sam, who has been thumbing through her new book, is totally engrossed with what she's reading.

Tucker, just as curious, saunters over to her and tries to read over her shoulder. The book slams shut and tight. Irritated, he utters, "OK, Sam, I can take a hint!"

"**I** didn't do that! **It** did that! Boy, this is certainly a spooky—but totally interesting—book!"

"Well, you can have it!" Tucker responds, a little jumpy over the incident.

Danny is quick to add, "Hey, does it like me?" He approaches the book, which is still being held by Sam, and it glows warmly and opens. But just as he inches downward to look at its contents, it slams tight—right on his nose!

"Ouch!" He yells, instantly pulling away and then grabbing his nose.

The book shudders and Sam laughs. "Well, you asked for it! And if I didn't know better, I'd say that the book was laughing at you!"

"Well, it does have a sense of humor," Clockwork says, smirking a little at the incident.

"And a sick one at that!" Danny protests, still nursing his nose.

Sam approaches Jazz with the book and Jazz immediately throws her arms up in front of her, trying to veer Sam and the book away. "I pass!" She explains. "I'll stick to my psychology books, thank you." And to the book she says, "No offense!"

The book shakes again. "I guess that must mean that's OK," Sam surmises.

"Good!" Tucker concludes. "Now, what are we going to do? We have to have some kind of plan about getting the putrid Phantom here, taking back the staff and defeating him. Of course, you know, that'll take **a lot** of planning!"

Danny replies, "You're right, Tucker! If we're going to do this, we have to start planning **now**!"

But, just then, there's a loud commotion, and everyone jumps.

"What's that?" Jazz gasps.

Turning toward the doorway, Danny guesses, "Sounds like it's coming from the main room!" Maybe that's where the first stage of our planning will begin!"

"Danny, we have to be careful!" Sam insists, grasping his arm firmly. "If it is that evil creep, then we can't go barging in on him!"

"Of course, I don't plan on barging in on him! I'm just going to sneak up and see what's happening. It might not be anything anyway. You guys stay here and protect Clockwork!" He quickly leaves the room.

Looking at the girls, Tucker moans, "And how does he expect us to do that?"

But the girls don't look back at Tucker. Instead, they track Danny as he turns invisible and phases through the wall toward the main room. "Danny, please be careful!" Danny hears Jazz and Sam echo.

Maintaining invisibility throughout, the teen ghost floats as silently as possible toward his designation. As he tries to come up with a quick plan, he is unnerved by the possibility that it might be **him**. But trying to ignore that fact and goading himself, he thinks, _"OK, Fenton, if you can't concentrate, then it's no use going to investigate that noise!"_ He braces himself and tries to think what he needs to do when he reaches the main room. _"...Now, what would I do if I was evil and saw me? NO! I don't want to even think that I might be evil—ever!...But, I __**have**__ to think a little like that if I'm to get the staff and defeat him!"_ He struggles with the thought, but concedes, _"Well, I'd probably want to waste me and do it quickly."_ He stops and thinks again. _"Or,… since I might actually like it, I might want to torture me first._"

He swallows hard, and then utters under his breath, "So I'd better be prepared for anything! Which means I cannot hesitate to react... No sweat!" But he is not at all successful in convincing himself of his plan.

As he draws nearer to the door leading into the main room, his 'ghost sense' suddenly goes off. _"Oh, man! If it's not __**him**__, it's definitely another ghost! But if it __**is him**__, he'll have detected me, __**too!**__ So, Fenton, be ready for…anything!"_


	9. Chapter 9  The Encounter

**A/N: Ohmigosh, I about fell out of my seat: almost 1000 hits all ready?! I'm so thrilled and I thank you all!! Anyway, enjoy today's holiday!! And sorry about leaving you on a (short) cliff at the last chapter, but I do love this kind of suspense. But here is bonus Chapter 9, as promised to you glorious readers who asked! And be GLAD you asked, because, heh-heh!, you just KNEW that the two Phantoms were going to meet sometime, didn't you? Well, then, this is JUST the chapter for you!! (hope you don't mind, Miko in training!) And, oh, "IDNOAC". Hope you enjoy! **

His Own Worst Enemy—Chapter 9—The Encounter

Dan Phantom's 'ghost sense' alerts him as he steps out of the time portal with his second load of canisters. He places these canisters as he did the first set, conspicuously depositing them on the floor, and ignoring the loud thuds they each make. "So, there's another ghost in here? Did Clockwork escape? It won't matter, now that I have this." He pats the small weapon he has also brought with him.

He begins to search the room, but he sees no ghost. But just as the younger and invisible Danny carefully enters the room, both his blue and the older ghost's red 'ghost senses' are triggered again.

The evil Phantom growls, "OK, I know you're here, ghost, so it doesn't matter if you're invisible or not! You can't escape me!"

Danny doesn't answer, but concentrates on his own search. He thinks, _"Where's the staff? He's has no medallion, so where's the staff?"_

But Danny's silence only angers his foe more. "If you won't show yourself, then I'll just have to force you to!" The furious Dark Phantom blindly shoots his weapon, dispelling shots of the powerful sparkling green mist; and unfortunately for the younger ghost, some of the mist is heading straight at him.

Reacting instinctively, Danny defends himself with an ice ray, which readily freezes the threatening gas, rendering it harmless.

Amazed at the ice beam coming out of nowhere, but still irritated, the older ghost jeers, "That's a nifty little power there, ghost! But it has given your location away!" He quickly follows with another shot of spray at Danny's last location.

Just as his adversary fires, Danny darts away, barely missing the mist. But in his haste to avoid it, the teen flies too close to the Dark Phantom.

Both of their ghost senses repeat their warning.

Then floating slowly and carefully away from the other, Danny, of course, knows that this is the same gas he saw in the holograph on Tucker's new PDA. He silently and quickly thinks, _"So what exactly is that stuff anyway? But it doesn't matter, 'cause I know that it's going to make me sick! But what about him? Shouldn't he be wary of it? He's trying to hit __**me**__ with it, but what if he accidentally exposed himself to it, too?_

But then he realizes that he should not hang around too long to find out. He searches quickly for an exit, knowing that if he delays any longer, the gas will engulf the whole room. But, he hesitates, uncertain on where to go, as the mist has now blocked most of his escape options.

Danny's challenger interrupts the boy's thoughts. "You can't hide, ghost! If I don't get you, the gas will!"

But the teen hasn't moved far enough away from the other yet. Before the boy can react, the evil one creates a large ball of energy that entraps both of them. Immediately, both of their ghost senses go off and the older ghost laughs, "I got you now, foolish little one! The mist won't hurt me! I'm not affected by time or the elements because I have the Time Ghost's staff! So, once I fill this sphere with the gas, there'll be no way for you to get out!" He discharges his weapon, releasing the mist.

"_That's what you think, you jerk!"_ Danny thinks to himself, as he powers up his wulf claws and slashes a hole in the wall of the orb, which is just big enough for him to escape. But the mist is also released and begins to fill the room.

Amazed a second time at the hole that opens up from nowhere in his energy ball, but growing more incensed, the Phantom from the future growls, "That's an even more impressive power there! But again, you foolishly betrayed your position. Not a smart move! Even so, I'm glad to know that you're one special ghost who will be more than happy to serve me once I get you under my control!"

He discharges more mist and a cloud begins to bellow toward his younger other self. Danny freezes most of the cloud again, and he then sees that he has opened up a wide path for his escape. _"I think this is as good as a cue as ever for me to go! I'll have to look for the staff another time. This is getting too close for comfort!"_

But as he turns to go, a red ectoplasmic energy ray jolts him from behind. Dan Phantom has hit his mark! "Eeeyow!" Danny cannot suppress his cry of pain. Though momentarily stunned, Danny is still able to move quickly away, just barely missing another blast.

A smug smile erupting on his face, the Dark Phantom hisses, "Heh-heh. Gotcha!"

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Meanwhile, just at the moment when Danny was punching a hole in the energy sphere, Sam is pacing back and forth in Clockwork's room.

"He's been gone too long!" She finally announces, throwing up her hands in exasperation. "I don't like it when he's gone this long. That usually isn't good news!"

Suddenly, the three teens hear a loud noise coming from the direction of the main room.

Tucker yells, "That sounds like Danny's ectoplasmic energy ray! He's gotta be in trouble!"

Jazz turns to Clockwork and asks, "Will you be all right for awhile?"

The old ghost nods.

Cocking her miniature wrist ray gun, Sam declares, "OK, then, let's go!"

But what the friends don't know as they dash to the main room is that what they heard was not Danny's signature ectoplasmic energy ray, but **Dan Phantom's** energy ray, which, of course, sounds almost the same as their friend's, and which has just hit the younger Danny for the first time.

Finally, they reach the entrance to the room and cautiously look around it, using the doorway for cover. They see not Danny, but the Dark Phantom, and the same strange mist, and know that means bigger trouble.

"There's that same kind of mist that covered Skultech! And what are those things over there?" Jazz whispers to the others, pointing to the canisters.

"We have to help Danny!" Sam earnestly says under her breath, ignoring the canisters and Jazz's comment.

"How? We can't see him, and Phantom's here!" Tucker moans back, trying to be as quiet as possible.

"Just follow my lead!" She commands, tight-lipped. She inches forward.

"Whatever that means!" He whispers, but instantly checks his wrist ray gun.

The older ghost continues to fire his ectoblastic beams wildly in the room, hoping to hit the fleeing and invisible ghost again, but, fortunately, Danny is able to avoid the blasts and the mist, for now.

All of a sudden, and surprising Jazz and Tucker, Sam can't stand by any longer and shoots at the visible ghost.

Shocked at, but unaffected by, her attack, her foe looks to where the shot has come. Sam gasps in horror, as she knows that he has seen her, because she did not jumped back behind the doorway in time for him not to have seen her.

"Oh, please," He says at first, but then putting it all together, he calls to the invisible ghost. "Well, what do you know? So, ghost, or should I say, **Danny Phantom**? I see your baby helpers are as annoying as gnats!"

"You leave them alone!" The younger Phantom threatens as he finally materializes and fires his ice rays at his adversary. But the older ghost merely answers the assault with an ectoplasmic shield, which is quickly frozen and shattered by the force. Phantom, however, is unharmed.

Danny charges again but each of his bolts is met by his evil self's own rays. Tiring quickly from the immense effort, the younger ghost knows that he can't keep this up for long.

Jazz, Tucker and Sam, however, have been standing helplessly by, not daring to shoot again in fear of hitting Danny during his assault on the older Phantom.

Finally, Sam screams, "Danny, get away from him!"

Danny doesn't hesitate to obey her and bolts away. This is the chance Jazz, Sam, and Tucker are hoping for and they immediately open fire on their enemy. But much to their distress, the Dark Phantom merely bats their efforts away, and heads straight at them.

Danny gasps as the future ghost charges at his friends. _"The risk is not worth it anymore!" _He thinks, but yells, "Get out of here, guys!" And he fires and hits the older ghost, stopping him in his tracks.

But the boy's distraction is short; and Dan Phantom, just as he directs his rays at the lintel above the doorway which Jazz, Tucker and Sam have been using as a shield, laughs, "I can take care of that!" The entire structure collapses around the teens, completely blocking the doorway, sealing Danny and his adversary in together.

"No!" Danny yells, but his concern for his friends' safety throws him off guard and he is hit hard by a strong burst of energy from the other. The jolt sends him downward and Dan Phantom follows up with another blast of the green shimmering gas. This time, Danny falls into the concentrated mist and coughs violently on it.

Still coughing and realizing that avoiding exposure is no longer an option, he yells, "I'm outta here!" He begins to pour on his super speed, but before he can, he's hit by another powerful energy bolt. This time, the combination of the gas and energy beams is enough to zap the teen of his strength and coughing violently, he plummets to the ground.

The last thing the boy remembers is the contorted sinister look of triumph on the older ghost's face which echoes his laugh. "Well, what do you know? I hit the jackpot!"

Dan Phantom then grabs a time medallion off the rack, drapes it over the unconscious Danny Fenton, throws the boy over his shoulder, and jumps through the time portal.


	10. Chapter 10 Desperate Reactions

**A/N: Here it is again: "IDNOAC" . And now here is bonus Chapter 10, as promised. Hope you enjoy!**

His Own Worst Enemy—Chapter 10—Desperate Reactions

Sam wildly claws at the fallen debris around what was once the doorway and then quickly shoots it with her wrist ray gun. Jazz and Tucker attempt to help her, but they are repelled by the flying rubble.

"Danny!" She screams as she once again recklessly tears at the fragments.

"Sam!" Tucker yells, dodging a rather large piece of what used to be the doorway, "Let us help!"

But she doesn't listen to him and continues to dig. Then she finally begins to slow as her sobs overpower her, and falling to her knees, she cries, "This is all my fault! And I'm taking too long! He's in there with that, **that thing**!"

Tucker and Jazz immediately jump in when her slowing efforts are enough to allow them not to be bombarded by the rubble.

"Let's combine all of our energy rays and see if we can blast through!" Jazz hurriedly suggests.

Sam wipes her eyes and the three stand abreast and aim their guns at one point. The force is strong enough to create a hole big enough for them to get through. They rush in, guns ready, only to find the room empty, except for the canisters. But they are so upset, they ignore those items for now.

Looking quickly around, Sam gasps, "Oh, no!"

"We don't know what happened, Sam," Jazz says, trying to calm Sam—and herself.

"He might have gotten away!" Tucker tries to suggest. But his voice rings with his fear.

Her voice mirroring her distraught face, Sam insists, "No! I know he didn't get away, because he would have met right up with us!"

"But, they could be anywhere!" Tucker says, so upset that he doesn't really knowing what to say. "Do you think they went back through the time portal?"

"We don't know," Jazz insists. "But let's think this through logically. What would that evil Danny want with **our** Danny?"

"Hurt, control or destroy him!" Tucker answers, again, not fully understanding what he just said.

Sam begins to cry.

"Stop that, Sam!" Jazz demands. Her sudden fierceness is enough to snap Sam out of it. "We need **everyone **to think this through if we're to find Danny!"

"You're right, Jazz! Thanks," Sam replies, quickly wiping her eyes, now determined to steel herself. Swallowing hard, she continues, "What I remember—and it still makes me shudder at the thought—about that evil jerk is that he liked to toy with us and with Danny. It wasn't enough for him to hurt us. He enjoyed the terror he caused."

Looking at the others and trying to lift their—and her own-spirits a little, Jazz concludes, "So, we have to hope that he won't destroy Danny outright. We may still have some time on our hands."

"Time!" Sam's yell startles the other two teens. "Tucker, can you replay that clip with Skultech in it?"

Though bewildered by her request, Tucker whips out his PDA as he says, "OK".

He quickly activates the video. All three of them watch the clip intensely—Jazz and Tucker totally uncertain why Sam wants it replayed-and Sam acting on her hunch.-

Suddenly, Sam yells, again startling Jazz and Tucker. "Freeze that frame!"

Tucker, again obliging her, whines, "What are we looking for?"

"Look…there…in the background…on the table!" She points out. "I thought it looked familiar."

Tucker then thinks he recognizes the same thing. "That looks like…Can it be? Just give me a minute." Punching on his PDA again, Tucker highlights and zooms into the area on the clip. They all look more closely and then Tucker turns to the others and says, "I think that stuff is ectoradium!"

"Are you sure?" Jazz queries, looking at him and then back at the picture.

"Well, not without a real sample, but that glow of the stuff in the clip and the glow of the mist are similar to the glow emitted by ectoradium. After all, I did have to analyze some of its make-up to make sure the calibration for the ghost energy relay system was right. So, I would guess that it is ectoradium."

"That's good enough for me!" Sam declares.

Crossing her arms and glancing at Sam, Jazz muses, "But how did he get that stuff and what would the evil Danny want with it? He couldn't touch it."

"I don't know how he got some of it. But you're right, Jazz. No ghost can touch it, but couldn't it be used against them? Maybe like a biochemical weapon or something?" Tucker offers, trying to come up with any explanation.

Sam chimes in, "Maybe. But, anyway, that evil jerk took Clockwork's staff, remember? He's outside of time and probably can't be harmed by ectoradium!"

"But I didn't see him with the staff!" Tucker points out.

They all look at each other, uncertain what that means.

"Well, maybe he insulated himself or something," Sam offers.

Tucker adds, "Maybe. But anyhow, he obviously has gotten hold of some ectoradium. And I think he has all ready used some of it."

"How do you know? Do you think that's what this is all about?" Jazz asks.

Tucker shrugs and guesses, "Well, it would explain the strange behavior of all of those future ghosts and why they looked and acted so ill." His eyes suddenly brighten with his thought. "Maybe it's like our radiation poisoning; only it's **ecto-**radiation poisoning!"

The trio look at each other, And then Jazz announces, "That is about the best lead we have so far. Then we need to do some more research on ectoradium."

"And we need to find Danny!" Sam reminds her.

"We haven't forgotten about that," Jazz gently replies. "It's that we don't know where to begin to look and we might as well work on the only clue we have. Besides, if I know the evil Danny like I know my brother, he'll be back sooner than we think. Just look over there. At those canisters. I don't think that he's finished with his purpose here. And I'm certain our Danny would try to get back to us as soon as he can, if he could."

"Well, I hate to say you're right," Tucker says, "But can we drop the similarities between the two of them? I creeps me out!"

"Me, too!" Sam echoes.

"Like it or not," Jazz says seriously, "They are similar. But if we know **our** Danny well, we will be able to outwit the evil one—not because of any dark side of **our** Danny, but his **good** side—the one that's always determined and never gives up…and in the end does the right thing. That is how we will defeat the Dark Phantom. Now, let's go find out as much as we can about ectoradium!"

Tucker eyes suddenly widen with apprehension. "But what if the jerky Phantom ever comes back here? How would we know? I might be able to rig up some type of surveillance system. But someone needs to monitor it." He pauses and looks at them, and then an idea hits him. "Do you think that Clockwork would be able to check on it for us?"

Sam is quick to mention, "The monitoring system is a great idea, Tucker. But we don't know if Clockwork is well enough to help."

"I am. And I will do my part since you all are willing to risk everything to save your friend."

The three teens gasp and turn when they hear Clockwork's voice. When they first see him, he is hovering at the entrance made by their blasts. But then, he collapses to the floor. They hurry to his side.

Her voice reflecting the great concern she has for him, Sam places her hand gently on the old ghost's arm and asks, "Are you sure you can do this, Clockwork?"

"I have to. I have a feeling that both of our worlds depend on that!"

"What do you mean?" Jazz frets, helping the old ghost up.

"I'm saying that this sinister Phantom is a very powerful force to be reckoned with! My experience with him proves that he will not stop at nothing less than getting total power and causing total destruction. And it's my fault that this has all happened! It was because of my own pity for him that I didn't destroy him when I had him in my power. But since I could not make myself harm him, it is an even graver fault of mine that I didn't make sure he could not escape! As long as I exist in this world, then, I cannot allow anything worse to happen. Tucker, set up your surveillance device, and tell me how to contact you. We will beat him at his own game!"

"But what about **our** Danny?" Sam moans.

He turns to the girl and gently touching her arm, replies, "I have faith in him. He's stronger than he or anyone else thinks. And he has the very best of friends—and family—here to help all they can. I think both our worlds have true hope."

The three teens smile weakly at his compliment.

Clockwork continues, "Now, let's all get to work! And Sam? Read the book I gave you."

"But…?"

"**Read,**" He insists and she doesn't question him again.

**A/N: Well that's all for now! See you soon! truephan**


	11. Chapter 11 On Course

**A/N: Hope you're enjoying the story. OH, and I dedicate this chapter to Nicktoons Squad whose review broke my record of reviews for any of my stories! Thank you, my friend and thanks to you all!! Now here is Chapter 11, minus the 'owning of the characters' thing.**

His Own Worst Enemy—Chapter 11—On Course

Tucker quickly sets up the device they need to alert them of anything coming out of the time portal, and the threesome then return to the specter speeder and head back toward the Fenton Portal. In no time, they arrive at the Fenton home.

They all meet in Jazz's room and start their tasks. While Sam digests the book, Jazz researches any information about ectoradium on her computer and Tucker continues to explore and input new programs onto his PDA.

After a couple of hours of concentration on all of their parts, Sam, whose eyes are still glued on the book, suddenly blurts out, "This is the strangest book I've ever read!"

"Because it's alive?" Tucker answers, looking up from his PDA.

She then looks up at Tucker and says, "No, because for such a small book, it has so much information in it. I mean, just when I seem to get to the end of the book, more pages mysteriously appear and there's even more stuff to read!" 

"Doesn't it have an index or table of contents?" He asks.

"I didn't see any. And I do wish it did have one, though, so that I can get some sort of hint of what Clockwork wanted me to read. At this rate, I might never finish the book!"

Suddenly exasperated, she shoves the book against her thighs, closes her eyes and yells to the ceiling, "I need some sort of freakin' guide!"

At the precise moment she uttered the word, 'guide', a page labeled "Guide" instantly appears and she is so rattled by that, she screams.

"What's wrong?" Jazz utters, startled away from looking at her computer.

Sam excitedly says, "When I said the word, 'guide', a "Guide" page just popped out of nowhere!"

Tucker quickly adds, "Well, don't just gawk at it, look at the contents before the book changes its mind!"

Sam slides her finger down the page and gasps. "That's it! Chapter 25! "Ghost Illnesses and Herbal Remedies!" Instantly, that chapter appears under her finger. "Cool! It's voice activated!" She says, awed.

"Good to know that it's in tune with the twenty-first century, too!" Tucker quips.

Meanwhile, Jazz has returned to the computer and after a few more minutes, it's her turn to yell. "I found it! Here's the chemical make-up of ectoradium! I'd hope that I would find it!...And guys…?"

"Yes?" Sam and Tucker say, momentarily glancing up from their tasks.

"It's time to tell my Mom and Dad. If we're to find out all we can, we need to have their expertise in chemistry and ghost make-up."

Neither of her friends disagrees.

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"What do you mean you can't find Danny?" Maddie gasps.

Jack, as bewildered as ever, asks, "You lost him at the carnival?"

Jazz bites her lips and admits, "No! We never went to the carnival. We went to see a ghost friend of ours and…"

"You have a friend that's a _**ghost**_?" Her mother interrupts, both aghast and intrigued.

"Yes, it's a long story, Mom, but we have something more important to talk about that we hope will help us find and help Danny. It's about ectoradium. We already know that ghosts can't touch it. But we need to know if ectoradium does anything else to ghosts."

Surprised at the subject of her query and then looking at all the kids, Jack utters, "Ectoradium? You mean the stuff that made up the disasteroid? I was able to take a sample from the spaceship before we tried to destroy it. We have been studying it for awhile, and have some data on it."

Jazz runs over and gives her dad a huge hug and says, "You're the best, Dad!"

"Thanks, Princess. Now what do you need to know about it?"

"What else can ectoradium do to ghosts?"

"Well, it can destroy them!" Jack begins.

Sam, Tucker, and Jazz gasp.

"What's wrong, honey?" Maddie asks, worried about their reaction. "What does ectoradium have to do with Danny? Was he exposed to it?"

Jazz, though hesitant, answers, "Uh, we don't know, but if he was, it wasn't the solid stuff. It was some kind of mist. And you also need to know that there's a very bad ghost from the future who wants to destroy and rule the world, well, really both worlds—ours and the ghosts'-- and…"

"Is it Plasmius?" Maddie interrupts.

Hedging and not wanting to divulge who the ghost is, Jazz finally replies, "No...This one's more powerful, and in some ways…more evil."

"And he has Danny?" Maddie gasps.

Jazz continues, "We think so, but we're not sure. But Tucker has been able to devise a way to detect him…"-- And Jazz also thinks-_-"'or Danny for that matter'_--"...should he return. Until then, we felt we needed to know all we can about ectoradium, just in case Danny was exposed to it."

"Who is this evil ghost anyway?" Jack asks.

Still unwilling to explain everything to them, she replies, "There'll always be some sort of evil ghost trying to take over the world, so can we just concentrate on defeating this one, please?"

"Jazz's right, Jack." Maddie adds, getting more worried at the thought. "Let's see what data we've compiled on ectoradium."

They punch on their computer and then after analyzing the facts, Maddie explains, "It looks like in its normal state, which is the solid form, it just repels ghosts, sort of like being zapped with electricity. That is why they can't touch it. But when it's broken down into its components, mixed with certain compounds, and changed to an aerosol, it is more powerful. In fact, it becomes a poison to the ghosts." She reads a little more and continues, "When given in mild doses, the aerosol mist only makes the ghosts ill. But when the ghosts are in that state, they can be compelled to do things against their will, no matter how hard they resist…It doesn't appear to affect their strength at first, but they can suffer from periods of weakness if they exert themselves or are hurt..."

"…Other symptoms include having a change in their ghost skin tone, and fluctuating degrees of eye color variations. Usually during the first stage of infection, they will have semi-solid red eyes, and then in the later stages, intensely glowing red eyes. But much like having different temperatures during a fever, and especially if they make any attempt to fight the infection, their eyes will show it, by the amount of color fluctuation."

All three teens swallow hard at the news, as Mrs. Fenton continues to read. "But when given anything more than a mild dose of the gas, the poisoning not only makes them obey whoever is commanding them, but the illness will progress, worsening to the point that the ghosts phase to oblivion."

No one at first can speak after hearing this. Jazz then says, "That must be what that evil ghost is up to! To bring all ghosts under his control."

"Or he might want to get rid of them all," Tucker adds.

"Yeah, and if he did both, he can use the other ghosts to control our world, and then he can rid of them whenever he wanted," Sam surmises.

Jack and Maddie look at each other and then the teenagers, fascinated by their logic and unsettled by what it implies. "So that's what you think this ghost wants to do?" Maddie finally asks.

Jazz answers. "It's very possible…but we don't know for sure. Anything else about ectoplasmic poisoning? Is there a cure?"

"We haven't researched that part, yet," Jack volunteers. "We just finished compiling all the attributes of the substance." 

"Danny!" Sam utters under her breath, fretting for him.

The book she's still holding throughout this entire conversation shudders just as she utters his name. "What is it, uh, Book?" She asks it.

It shudders again.

On a whim, she opens it and "Chapter 25: Ghost Illnesses and Herbal Remedies" appears.

"OK. Whatever you say. Until we can figure out what to do next, it's time to read 'Chapter 25'!"


	12. Chapter 12  A Plan in the Works

**A/N: It's time to enjoy Chapter 12, even if "IDNOAC".**

His Own Worst Enemy—Chapter 12—A Plan in the Works

In the Dark Phantom's laboratory ten years in the future, Danny Fenton groggily opens his eyes.

"Uh,…my head!" He groans. "I feel like a sledge hammer has just rammed me and is still there, right on top of me!"

He tries to bring his hand to his head but quickly sees that he's bound to the wall; his arms and legs are outspread and held fast in special bindings. He reflexively struggles against them, but he can't break free. _"Of course!"_ He thinks.

Suddenly, he hears the voice. "So, you finally decide to rejoin the real world, or for you, your nightmare world!"

"You!" Danny angrily hisses. "What do you want?"

The older ghost floats nearer to the boy and scoffs, "Always the drama! Well, I have half of what I want….you! I haven't been able to thank you for keeping me a prisoner for so long. Yet. But then again, I especially need to thank you because without you, I wouldn't have gotten Clockwork's staff that keeps me outside of time!"

His voice still laden with contempt, Danny utters, "I don't believe you have it!" And then reminding himself to think like the Dark Phantom, he immediately knows the answer and accuses, "You've embedded it inside of you, haven't you?"

"You're so clever, aren't you? Yes, I have embedded it in me and you'll never be able to get to it!... And since you will have a part to play in it all, I might as well tell you about the other half of what I want. Let's just say that the universe needs to be swept clean of ghosts!"

"What do you mean?" Danny demands, suddenly coughing.

His captor sneers, "You all ready had a sample of my plan. Controlling the ghosts that attacked you, and now infecting you. But, unfortunately, you were able to resist its affects, for now. I'll just have to adjust the dose a little more carefully for you. Getting rid of you will be a more delicate matter."

Pulling against his bindings, Danny challenges, "What, are you afraid that wasting me right away will affect you after all?"

"Don't flatter yourself! I have the staff! It's just that you have powers that I don't have. So that means our destinies are no longer linked. And I can use you and your exquisite powers to give me the advantage I need for my own purposes!"

"I'll never work for you!" Danny scornfully swears.

Phantom calmly replies, "My dear, naïve child. Of course you will! It's only a matter of time, and as I told you, I have all the time in the world. And once you have served my purpose, then just as the other ghosts I sent to distract you said: 'You're history!'"

Danny clenches his teeth in anger and accuses, "I knew you were the one who sent them!"

Mimicking Danny's higher voice, the evil Phantom taunts, "Yes I was the one! And that's not the end of it! Once I get rid of all those traitorous ghosts, there will be nothing that can keep me from taking over both worlds!"

"What? You can't be serious?" Danny gasps. "Don't you know that the Ghost Zone and the Human World are linked? If one goes, the other…."

"Don't you know that I don't care about those details? All I care is that I will do whatever it takes to rule it all and **you** **won't be able** to prevent it!"

Incensed at that comment, Danny screams in defiance and, then transforming himself into Danny Phantom, instantly tries to break free. But he cannot.

The other Phantom chuckles, "Such a pathetic little 'hero' you are! Now I got you where I **want** you!" He whips out a small device and sprays the mist at Danny, who coughs violently on it.

"I will never….let…!" The boy begins, but fight as he might, the effects of the mist are too strong, and he loses consciousness. But this time, because of the contamination, he does not change back to his human form.

Lifting up Danny's head and speaking to the unconscious Ghost Boy, Dan Phantom snickers, "Oh, but you certainly will!"

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Meanwhile, Sam is sitting on Jazz's bed, reading the ghost book that Clockwork gave her. Jazz continues her computer research, but now on ectoradiation poisoning.

Tucker is still pounding on his PDA, reviewing all of its programs. "Hey, there's a cool program in here about turning off all of the city's lights all at once! No matter what you think about them, or the fact they tried to waste us, you have to admire Skultech's genius!"

Not listening to Tucker, Sam looks up from the book and clearly exasperated, says, "I don't get it!"

Jazz looks up from the computer. She is obviously very tired. "What's wrong, Sam?" She asks gently.

"I've been reading 'Chapter 25' for hours and I still haven't found a cure for ectoradiation poisoning. I've used all sorts of command words, and have seen information on all kinds of ghostly illnesses but I still haven't found a shred of evidence on ectoradiation poisoning."

"You've been reading for hours?" Tucker asks, surprised. "I couldn't possibly do that!"

"You stay on your PDA for hours," Sam dryly points out.

"But that's different! I'm learning all types of useful information that I know will come in handy in the future."

Jazz interrupts them. "And speaking of the 'future', have you heard anything from Clockwork yet?"

"Not a word," Tucker answers. "But I think it's a good idea that we check in with him."

He pushes a few buttons on his wondrous little machine and a live video com-link is made.

Clockwork is lying on his bed, looking older and older.

"Clockwork?" Tucker gasps.

Clockwork struggles to sit up; and assures the boy, "I look worse than I feel. I have not seen or heard any signs of anyone coming through the time portal. As soon, as I know, you'll know. In the meantime, have you found anything else to help you yet?"

"Not a whole lot," Tucker says, sounding discouraged. "But as soon as we know, you'll know, I promise!"

"Thanks, Tucker. And don't give up hope. I haven't!"

Smiling weakly at Clockwork's encouragement, Tucker replies, "You're right, Clockwork! Check on you later."

After disconnecting with Tucker, Clockwork slumps back down on his bed, groans in pain and closes his eyes. Suddenly and unexpectedly, he draws strength in his long held deep hope in Danny. If anyone would save him and everyone else, it would be the young ghost in whom he has the greatest faith. He moans in pain again, but sighs in hope, "You are strong, Danny; stronger than you realize."


	13. Chapter 13 The Plan in Motion

**A/N: Another milestone for me! Lucky 13! This is my first story to get past 12 chapters! YEAH! And much thanks to Pearl84 who helped me tweak the ending of this chapter and gave me a juicy edited ending to Chapter 12! Again, my friend, your insight is priceless! And one of the fans, Samantha Seldowitz, had an interesting idea I'd like to pass on, if I can. How would y'all feel if you suddenly met your "ten-year-older self"? What would you say? Or do? Anyhow, throw your thoughts at us if you'd like and, throw your thoughts at me about this chapter, too! And, of course, "IDNOAC". But I'm also all ready for Chapter 13, aren't you? Enjoy!**

His Own Worst Enemy—Chapter 13—The Plan in Motion

Dan Phantom cups his unconscious captive's chin and pries the ghost boy's eyes open. Satisfied with his inspection, he smiles. "He's almost ready. And just in time! I have more than enough of the gas to do the job. And with the little brat's powers, getting to each ghost will be a cinch!"

He unbinds Danny and lays him on an examination table. Then he floats over to several large tanks of gas, inspecting them again. Suddenly, he jerks his head around at the sound of Danny's groan. "Good, he's coming to!"" He says excitedly.

"Uh…..uh….my head!" The fifteen-year-old moans, coughing. With the poison penetrating his body, the boy's face is extremely pale and his eyes are red, but they are not yet glowing and there still is a slender green ring around the larger red orbs.

Suddenly, the younger ghost's memory comes into focus and he thinks, "Does he still have me?" He moves and is surprised that he is free.

But just as sudden, an evil, echoing voice commands, "Hear me, ghost!" The voice seems to drill through the boy's mind.

"NO!" The teen instinctively screams. Closing his eyes, he tries hard to concentrate, struggling to drive the voice out of his thoughts.

"You cannot resist! You are mine to command!"

"_I must resist!"_ The younger ghost commands himself. But then his mind begins to numb with pain even as he struggles to keep control of it. He feels his body being lifted up and shaken as the older ghost jostles him, trying to break his concentration.

"You cannot resist as long as you can't focus!" Dark Phantom hisses. "And I won't let you do that!"

Instinctively, Danny charges up his ghost rays and attacks his nemesis with a strong burst, repelling him away. The teen falls to his knees and puts his hand to his head.

Before shooting his own energy rays at the boy, the incensed older ghost sneers, "You're stronger than I thought possible, but you won't catch me off guard again!"

Danny yells as he absorbs the blow. Panting in more pain, the ectoplasmic punch weakens him enough that he cannot resist the poison any longer. His arms fall limp at his sides and his eyes are now completely, though faintly, red.

Dan Phantom charges up to his enemy, ready to assault him again. But then he sees that the boy is not defending himself and that his face is blank and his eyes red.

"It's done!" The evil one smiles. "Do you hear me, ghost?"

Danny stands up; his arms still limp at his sides. "Yes, I hear. What do you want?" But his voice is robotic and is definitely angry in tone.

"It's time to go!" His oppressor answers.

"As you wish," Danny replies with the same robotic, angry voice.

"This is perfect, except that you didn't call me 'Master'."

Danny doesn't answer.

"So, you can still resist, huh? Well, I'll make sure that's not a problem in the future!" He thrusts more mist on the angry boy, who though reacts with violent coughing, does not move from his position at all this time.

The poor response unnerves the older ghost. He thinks to himself, _"He's made of better stuff than me after all! It won't be soon enough before I can be rid of him!"_ He then flies over to the passive boy, grabs him by the collar and heads toward the time portal.

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"Tucker!" The voice screams, jolting Tucker out of his bed in the middle of the night.

"I'm awake!" He instinctively says, "Is it time for school all ready, Dad?"

"It's Clockwork!" The time ghost excitedly responds from the special transmitting device Tucker set up. "Phantom's out and he has Danny!"

"Ohmygosh!" Tucker yells, snapping to full attention. "We'll be there as soon as we can, Clockwork! I've got to call Sam and Jazz!"'

The old ghost nods weakly and disconnects their transmission.

Tucker slams his glasses on and quickly gets the phone and dials.

Moving the ghost book she had been reading when she fell asleep off of her and slowly sitting up, Sam grabs her phone and groggily answers, "Hello?"

"Sam! It's Tucker! The putrid Danny and our Danny are back in the Ghost Zone and at Clockwork's castle!"

"Oh, no! Have you called Jazz yet?" Sam asks, her adrenaline thrusting her awake.

"Not yet! We need to get the specter speeder!"

"You get ready and come over here. I call Jazz!" Sam hurriedly suggests.

"OK. I won't be long!" Tucker says, already grabbing his backpack.

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"Huh? Hello?" Jazz sleepily answers her cell phone.

"Jazz! This is Sam! Get the specter speeder ready! Clockwork just contacted Tucker to let us know that they are **both** back! Tucker and I can meet you at my house, OK?"

Jumping out of bed and hurrying to get going, Jazz barks into the phone, "No problem!", and quickly hangs up. As she heads downstairs, her next thought is, _"No time to get Mom and Dad!"_

When she reaches the basement, she pushes a button on a machine and talks as she readies the specter speeder. "Mom. Dad. This is Jazz. We got a lead on where Danny is. I'm taking the specter speeder and promise to call as soon as I know more. Love you!" She stops the machine and grabs an armful of the Fenton wrist ray guns from the shelf and hurriedly throws them into the ship. She jumps in and just as she fires up the machine, she says to herself, _"I hope they get the message….And I hope they understand!" _She speeds off to get her friends.

Once Tucker and Sam are on board, Jazz gives each of them a wrist ray gun. Jazz immediately turns the specter speeder around and heads back to her house.

"Here, let me have those!" Tucker commands, pointing to the wrist rays. "They weren't much good the last time we used them and I want to make sure they don't fail us the next time we need them!"

The girls quickly surrender the weapons to Tucker and he hooks them up to his PDA and goes to work. In no time, he is finished and hands them back to the girls.

Having secured the improved wrist ray gun snugly on her, Sam remarks, "Good! We're almost there! Can't you go any faster, Jazz? We need to get back to the Fenton Portal."

Before Jazz can answer, Tucker grins smugly and replies, "I didn't tell you about all the other cool programs I found on this PDA! There's no need to hurry back! Thanks to Skultech, we can create a portal anytime we want!"

He pushes a button and a beam is emitted through the speeder and to the outside several yards away from them. A portal instantly forms.

"Sweet!" Tucker utters, totally impressed with the new power he now has.

"Well, here goes everything!" Jazz announces as she steps on the accelerator and they bolt through the portal Tucker created.

"Now, if we just knew where the heck we are!" Tucker utters.

"Uh, will this help?" Jazz whips out Danny's Ghost Zone map, handing it to Sam.

Tucker frowns in protest and accusation. "Hey! How did you find that? Danny says he keeps it hidden!"

"Oh, his nightstand is a hiding place?" Jazz replies innocently.

"Is nothing sacred?" He groans.

"There!" Sam calls as she points and then rechecks the map. "According to this, Clockwork's castle is just beyond that ghost island ahead!"

Jazz presses the accelerator again; and as the specter speeder surges ahead, they feel their sense of urgency—and their hearts—racing as well.


	14. Chapter 14  Underminings

**A/N: Hope you're enjoying this story. Oh, there is that "IDNOAC" thing again. Here is Chapter 14!**

His Own Worst Enemy—Chapter 14--Underminings

Earlier, meanwhile, the future Phantom and his poisoned and unwitting protégé have just stepped through the time portal, activating Tucker's silent alarm.

Right after the alarm has alerted him, Clockwork calls Tucker and then heads to where the time portal is; that is, of course, the main room.

Clockwork boldly steps into the room and as soon as he reaches it, challenges the evil ghost.

"Back to finish the job, I see!" The old ghost says. But when he sees how ill the youngest ghost with the now faintly glowing red eyes looks, however, he is taken aback and has to check his urge to gasp.

But the dark Phantom notices the Time Master's reaction and interrupts him. "Oh, don't bother!" He hisses. "You're doomed and I do not want to waste any of the gas on you! I only have just enough to get rid of all the ghosts."

"You fool!" Clockwork hisses back. "Don't you know that if you destroy all of us, that'll be the end of you?"

The older Phantom impatiently snorts, "You're bluffing, old man! You know my ruling both worlds is inevitable!"

Clockwork turns, and looking at the fifteen-year-old ghost, declares, "He'll stop you!"

This time, Dan Phantom's laugh is more brazen than edgy. "How? He's been poisoned! Poisoned with ectoradium! And you know what **that is** and what it means. Let's just say that he's now my unwilling and powerful servant! He will fulfill his own destiny and be as evil as I am! But don't worry. I will not have any rivals for total power. After he's done as I commanded, I'll make sure his last dose will be lethal for both of his halves!"

Clockwork stumbles at the shock, and the younger Danny shudders.

Not hesitating to seize the opportunity at seeing Clockwork's weakness, his foe utters, "But, of course, I won't be needing to waste any gas when I do this!" He thrusts a beam of red ectoplasmic energy at Clockwork. But just before it strikes him, a green energy shield materializes in front of the Time Ghost, protecting the old ghost from harm.

Whirling around, Dan Phantom gasps, "What the….?" It is then that he sees the smoke still billowing from Danny's hands and that the boy's eyes no longer glow red, but are now a dull red nestled in green halos.

The older Phantom hysterically commands, "You! Stop now!"

"Keep fighting, Danny! I believe in you!" Clockwork calls, but that is the last thing he says as this time he is zapped successfully by the evil Phantom, as Danny cannot break free from the last hypnotic command. Clockwork falls, but because Dan Phantom was momentarily unsettled, is only given a small blast.

"You little brat!" Dan Phantom screams, soaring right up to the boy and smacking him right on the face with the back of his hand.

The younger Phantom rights himself back up again, standing firmly, his red eyes glowing not from control this time, but in defiance.

Once again momentarily unnerved by this, the evil one can almost hear the teenager's thoughts, _'I felt your own doubt just now! You may have some control, but not all! I will __**never**__ be like you! I won't give in and will fight you, even with my last breath!'_

But the older Phantom quickly recovers his wits and answers those same thoughts. "Childish, useless talk! It doesn't matter what you think. You will not escape your fate! You **will** succumb to evil! And after that, you won't be a thorn in my side much longer, even with all your contempt!"

He infects the boy with another dose of the ectoradium spray, which quickly spreads over the teenager and, inadvertently, over Clockwork. Both of them now cough violently on the gas, and both collapse.

Looking at the senseless teen, Phantom utters, "That should do it! He's taken more than four times the dose that I used for any other ghost. How can it be that he is that resistive to it? But it's just as well. I won't need him much longer, and then I…"

Before he can continue, however, the wall he's standing next to implodes from the force of the blaster from the specter speeder. The wall slams into him, but does not touch Danny or Clockwork, who are all ready lying on the floor.

As the smoke from the blast clears, and seeing his still form, Sam frantically yells, "Danny!"

"And there's Clockwork!!" Tucker also yells when he sees the motionless old ghost.

Jazz lands the speeder and screams, "HURRY!"

Sam and Tucker jump out and rush over and rescue Danny. They then run to get Clockwork. Tucker doesn't even have time to close the door when Jazz quickly reverses the speeder, veers a hard left—which, by the way, helps Tucker to close the door—and jettisons away just as Dan Phantom is able to break out of the what's left of the blasted wall.

"It can't be!" The enraged ghost yells and instantly fires at the retreating spacecraft. He soars after it and fires again.

"Hurry, Tucker!" Sam shrieks, as she looks back and sees that the charging ghost is gaining.

"I'm going as fast as I can!" He yells back, punching feverishly on his PDA. "I got it!" He finally declares and a portal opens up just ahead of them. He then yells, "I made it so that it won't stay open long, so step on it, Jazz!"

Jazz instinctively obeys him, and is especially motivated when an energy bolt rivets the speeder.

The portal just ahead of them opens to its full diameter and then immediately starts to close, even though they have not yet reached it.

Jazz screams, "Tucker, you must have miscalculated!" But she adds more power anyway, and the ship charges toward the rapidly shrinking portal. Sam, Tucker and Jazz all shriek in terror and close their eyes, ready for the impact…..

…..that doesn't come, though from the loud scrapping sound they hear, they know that the outside gear of the specter speeder has just sheared off as it passes through the portal. The portal then closes immediately, leaving Danny's worst enemy on the other side.

"NOOO!" The dark Phantom screams, raising and shaking both of his clenched hands in the air.

And his howl of defeat echoes throughout the Ghost Zone.


	15. Chapter 15  Feared Confirmations

**A/N: "IDNOAC". And, oh my!! All ready over 2000 hits to this story!! I'm so excited and thank you!! And since I have to go out-of-town until tomorrow, I'm posting a little early. So, here is Chapter 15, well, a little early! Enjoy!**

His Own Worst Enemy—Chapter 15—Feared Confirmations

"Danny! Danny!" Sam calls, rushing over to his motionless body, which lies on the floor of the specter speeder. Kneeling closely to his right side, she brushes his white hair out of his eyes, and fights back her tears. He groans a little; and she smiles weakly, hopeful, yet anxious, that he's all right.

But when he finally opens his eyes and she sees his solid red irises she gasps, "Jazz! Tucker! He has ectoradiation poisoning!"

Tucker, who has been tending to Clockwork, reports, "Clockwork looks like he just got zapped, but I can't open his eyes to see if he's been poisoned."

"Sam?" Danny finally utters as he tries to sit up. He suddenly coughs.

"Danny!" She says gently and anxiously, now drawing closer to help support him.

She blurts out, "I'm so sorry! This is all my fault!"

He manages a weak smile. "No, it's OK. You know me…I'm always barging in."

Trying hard not to cry, she closes her eyes and draws her lips in. Suddenly, he groans again and falls back.

"Danny!" She gasps as she catches him and helps him lay back down on her lap. She is still at his side so she can see his face. She nervously reaches for and grabs his hand.

He pauses and then, coughing again, harshly mutters, "Sam, I don't think I can fight it much longer. I'll be under his control soon!"

"No, you won't…**I** won't let you!" She stammers, squeezing his hand firmly.

Danny closes his eyes tightly, resisting the thought with great effort, "But his voice is echoing in my mind! It's as if a hole is being drilled into my brain!"

"Fight it, Danny! I know you can. I believe in you!" She says softly but firmly.

Opening his eyes again and looking right at her, he groans, "But he says I will be like him soon, that I'll...be….evil."

"No!" She gently assures him, but her voice also rings with her strong conviction. "No matter what he says, that will never happen! You are the bravest, kindest and most caring person I know!" She stifles her tears and squeezes his hand harder as she continues. "You are **nothing** like him, you hear? I have never had so much faith in someone as I do in you, so do not give up hope! You taught me that. And we're working on getting the cure, so fight him!"

He smiles weakly at her encouragement and with another cough, whispers, "I will try! But right now, I need to sleep." He drifts back out of consciousness again just as they return to Fenton Works.

Once they land, Jazz jumps out of the speeder and runs upstairs. In no time, her parents come running down in their nightclothes. They are neither angry at Jazz for taking the specter speeder nor concerned about the condition of the specter speeder. But they are both definitely upset over what Jazz has told them about what happened to their son. They enter the speeder and Sam looks silently up at them with pleading eyes as they look Danny over. His face is deathly pale and his eyes are glowing solidly red with no hint of pupils.

"He certainly has ectoradium poisoning!" Maddie says fretfully. "Quick, Jack, we need to get him on the examination table!"

Jack scoops his son up and quickly but gently carries him over to the table.

"I never thought that the first ghost we finally get to thoroughly examine would be our own son!" Maddie stammers, tears welling up. "Jack, we need to take some tests and get blood samples!"

They quickly and carefully go to work, and Sam stands as close to Danny as she can without getting in his parents' way.

"Wait!" Tucker anxiously calls out. "We have another patient!" He and Jazz carry Clockwork out and place him on another nearby table.

Maddie gasps, "What is _**that**_?"

"That's our ghost friend, Mom," Jazz explains.

"Does he have ectoradiation poisoning?"

"We don't know," Tucker answers her. "We can't see his eyes, but he does look sicker than he's normally been looking lately."

"Normally?" Jack quizzes, perplexed.

Tucker cringes and shrugs.

Just then, Clockwork groans and begins to regain consciousness. The teens had noticed that his skin was greener; but when he finally opens his eyes, they immediately notice that they are redder than normal. He looks around and panics when he sees that he is in very unfamiliar surroundings. Tucker and Jazz rush over and help him sit up.

"Where am I?" He asks, bringing his hand up to his head. "And my head is splitting! And where's Danny?"

"You're at the Fentons' home and you have ectoradiation poisoning and Danny's here, too!" Tucker answers his questions in the correct order, propping the old ghost up with pillows.

"Good! He's safe for now," Clockwork sighs in relief when he hears that Danny has also escaped. But when his headache pounds again, he recalls Tucker's second comment and is completely bewildered. Holding his aching head, he asks, "What did you say I had? Ecto **what**?"

Jazz answers him, 'You must have been infected with ectoradiation poisoning. That's the gas form of ectoradium which poisons ghosts and will eventually eradicate them from the Ghost World."

"Zone. Ghost **Zone**." Tucker corrects her.

She rolls her eyes.

"That's not called ectoradiation poisoning," Clockwork insists, groaning. "It's called 'Black Shadow Decay'!"

"What?" Tucker responds.

"That's it!" Sam excitedly utters, stepping away from the Fentons as they continue with their tests. "The Book never mentioned ectoradiation poisoning because it's not called that!"

She rushes into the specter speeder and retrieves the book. She rushes back to Clockwork's side and quickly opens the book and commands, "Guide!...Chapter 25!...Herbs and Remedies…..Please tell me what it's called again, Clockwork?"

"Black…"

"Black…"

"Shadow…"

"Shadow…" She slowly repeats, sliding her finger down the page.

"Decay."

"Decay!"

Under 'Chapter 25', a "Black Shadow Decay" heading appears.

"It's here!" Sam yells triumphantly, and she begins to read out loud. "It says that Black Shadow Decay is caused by the aerosol form of an ectoradium compound. This is it!" Her voice quivers from the excitement. "It gets its name from the fact that at the very last stage of the contamination, the ghost convulses and turns black just before they decay into nothingness."

Everyone gasps at the news, except for Clockwork, who has slipped back into unconsciousness.

Sam looks anxiously at the change with Clockwork, and swallowing hard to steal herself, continues to scan the chapter. She then says, "Here's something that wasn't in our research data! It says that the black shadow decay was such a dreaded disease that over a century ago the ghosts who existed then agreed that something had to be done and organized a monumental drive. They collected all the known ectoradium in the ghost zone and compressed it into a very large spheroid. Then a few of the ghosts with special powers combined those unique powers, rent a large hole between the Ghost Zone and the Real World, and jettisoned the ectoradium mass into space--uh, **our** space, that is-- where they hoped it would remain forever and thus protect future ghosts from harm."

She stops reading and glances up at everyone, "That must be where the disasteroid came from!"

Everyone's eyes widen at the news. Tucker then blurts out, "You mean our world was almost destroyed by their litter? Why didn't they just destroy it at that time?"

"Yeah, they should have found a way to deal with it," Jazz gently replies. "They just probably didn't think it would ever affect them again."

No one says another word in response.

But then Sam returns to reading, "...Uh, well, it goes on to verify all the facts that we all ready know. Like when a ghost is infected with the poison, he is susceptible to hypnotic suggestion and will obey only the first one who speaks to him and who commands anything of him, even if he doesn't want to do it and even resists, and,…" But she stops at the next part, which they don't know. She gulps, and then adds, "…and, though helpless in obeying his oppressor, the poisoned ghost is totally aware of everything said, and everything he does and all the consequences that result in the process. And not only does he suffer from massive headaches, those headaches are compounded by his guilt of his forced actions….Oh, no! What a terrible disease! It not only destroys its victim, it tortures them, too!"

She looks up desperately at everyone and everyone looks as distraught as she when they understand the implications.

"No wonder it was such a dreaded disease! Then we **must** find a cure!" Jazz utters in determination. "So, what does it say about the cure?"

"There is no cure!" Maddie interrupts, tears rolling down her face. "Danny has been infected with a lethal dose of ectoradium poisoning!"

Everyone is shocked at her announcement.

But Sam is the first to recover. "No!" She insists. "The cure! What about the cure?!" She commands the book and it dutifully displays her demand.

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**A/N: Sorry I'm leaving you here, but I do love page-turners!! See you tomorrow**! t.


	16. Chapter 16 The Battle Plans

**A/N: Hope you're enjoying the story. "IDNOAC". And, WOW, what a long chapter! BTW: This is the chapter you asked about, Angelus-alvus. Hope you like it! And, of course, here is Chapter 16 for every one of ya'll's reading pleasure. **

His Own Worst Enemy—Chapter 16—The Battle Plans

"Blood blossoms?" Sam reads incredibly. "A serum derived from the blood blossom will cure Black Shadow Decay!" She declares, finally looking up at the others.

Tucker unwittingly gags. "Not that! I still remember it like it was yesterday! And doesn't it actually **hurt **ghosts?"

Maddie, Jack and Jazz, who are still in shock over Danny's health, stare at the two, completely mystified about their private conversation.

"What the heck are you talking about?" Jazz finally utters.

"It's a seventeenth century flower that was used to ward off ghosts, like a primitive and natural version of the specter deflector,"Sam explains.

Now Jack pipes in, "Yes, my ancestor, Jack Fenton-Nightingale used it to fight ghosts in Salem, Massachusetts during the witch hunts in the sixteen-hundreds."

Now, Maddie and Jazz continue in shock and are totally perplexed.

"Does that blossom still exist?" Tucker asks.

"Let's see," Sam begins, but then commands, "Where does the blood blossom grow?"

The answer appears and she reads, "…used to grow near very hot parts of the earth like a dessert or parched earth or near volcanoes. But is now extinct."

Now, it's Sam's turn to be in shock again.

"So, the blood blossom can both hurt **and **help ghosts….Hmmm….Volcanoes…" Tucker, grabbing and then tapping his chin, mulls it over. "What about Skulker's volcano? Maybe he knows something about it!"

"Skulker?" Maddie and Jack chime in.

"Another ghost….uhm, friend, sort of," Jazz answers.

"Well, it's the only hope we have," Sam is finally able to say. "We need to go look for some!"

All three teens look earnestly at Mr. and Mrs. Fenton.

Maddie, having a hunch on what's on their minds, says, "Now, kids, you're not thinking that we are going to see this ghost, do you?"

Jazz, Sam and Tucker drop their heads, crushed with the adults' decision.

"We can't possibly leave Danny and, what's his name, Clockwork? So, I think that you three should take the specter speeder, loaded with weapons, of course, and find this ghost who may help us, right, Jack?"

Jack nods and adds, "After we call their parents, of course. I'm sure they would approve taking an outing with Jazz."

The three young people run and give the Fentons a huge group hug, and then each gently pats the still unconscious Danny and Clockwork, assuring them, "We'll be back, we promise!"

"And, please, be careful!" Maddie says, anxious about her decision.

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Meanwhile, Dan Phantom, who had been left in a rage at Danny's rescue, has been trying to find a way into the Real World. But he continues to be unsuccessful, and then he rants, "Blast! If I could only remember where the portal of that idiot Plasmius is! The Ghost Zone ten years from now is so decimated that nothing looks the same here! I could wait for a portal to open up, but that will take too much time!"

He stops at a sudden thought. _"There's got to be at least one of the ghosts out here who knows how to get into the Real World! So then… I'll have to start the fumigation right away; and then I can make that ghost perform the little number for me."_ Having calmed himself with this plan, the dark Phantom begins the task of infecting the ghosts with the black shadow decay mist.

But he's so surprised at how successful he is at contaminating the Ghost Zone, he convinces himself that completing this phase before attempting to enter the Real World again is the better plan. And with each success, his confidence grows; and his thoughts drift back to Danny. As he works, he smugly huffs, "_Hard to imagine my simpler self thinking he could trade wits with me! Still, he is much stronger than I thought. But I don't get how!... Even so, doesn't he realize that he can't possibly escape me in the end?" _

But just as he thinks it won't be long before he'll find a way back to the Real World, he runs into trouble in delivering the rest of the gas. Frustrated again, he growls, "I knew I might get some resistance from some of them, but I didn't think that those idiots at Walker's prison, the beasts from the Far Frozen and that Skulker would be this hard!... I need the brat to help me with finishing the job after all! If I had retrieved him earlier, I wouldn't have wasted all this time." He suddenly laughs. "But never mind! Time is irrelevant now. Still, it's time to find him!"

Knowing that it'll take more time to find a ghost that knows a way into the Real World, he has a sudden idea. He has a strong hunch of where the boy will be; and deciding that Clockwork must have something which will help him, heads to Clockwork's castle. He hurriedly ransacks the main room and stumbles upon a chest. Opening it, he chuckles in triumph. Inside are time discs—and a map of the Ghost Zone! He quickly sorts through the time discs and finds the one for Fenton Works in the present day.

"I hope this works," He says, as he drops the disc into the time portal's activation port. But nothing happens and he groans, "The old man must have some special way to activate it! Blast!" Annoyed with the situation, he shoots the activation port with a red ectoplasmic energy beam. Then to his surprise, the viewing globe changes to present day Fenton Works.

"Yes!" He says with delight and he turns invisible and enters the portal….

"Oh, this is too easy," He sneers as he readily stuns Danny's parents and picks up the unconscious boy. Throwing the youth over his shoulder, he spies Clockwork on another table.

"Oh, this is too good!" He begins, floating toward the Time Master.

Suddenly, Danny stirs, groaning as he begins to regain consciousness. "But not enough time, for now. Later, old man!"

But Danny drifts back into unconsciousness as Phantom quickly soars away carrying his prize through the Fenton portal and into the Ghost Zone. He returns to Clockwork's castle in no time.

Placing Danny down momentarily, the older ghost retrieves the disc for Amity Park ten years in the future, places it in the port and activates it. He smiles when the viewing globe reveals his home once again.

"Good! Now that I know how to control the time portal, I can use it whenever I want- to return home or to use it later for other plans!"

Then picking Danny back up, he tries to revive the boy, shaking him and commanding, "Wake up! Wake up, I say!"

Danny finally rouses and immediately struggles against his captor, but he cannot break the older ghost's grip. _"No! No!"_ He screams to himself as his mind torments him. _"I won't! I promised!"_

"Hear me, ghost!" The familiar command knocks the fight out of the boy and he stops struggling. He slowly opens his eyes and they are red and glowing, but not as intensely as the Dark Phantom expected.

"_Unbelievable! He should have been totally helpless by now!"_ The other Phantom thinks, as he knows that the teen still resists. But he repeats, "Do you hear me?"

"Yes, I hear you!" But there is a long pause and the evil ghost is not certain that he has total control over him yet. Then the boy haltingly adds, "What.. do… you command?"

Dan Phantom smiles in triumph, even as he feels the boys continuing struggle. "I need your powers to penetrate Walker's prison, the Far Frozen and Skulker's Island. I cannot defeat any of them without you."

"As you wish!" The younger ghost barely utters.

"Good! We'll start at the prison. Walker will regret the day he crossed me!"

Before too long, they are there, even when the older Phantom needs to drag the younger, submissive one along.

Finally, the older ghost says, "Now, here's the plan. You will need to use that wonderful claw power of yours to open the entrance up. Then I will fumigate the prison with gas, and after that, you seal them in with your ice power. I do not want to waste any time there fighting those idiots. Is that clear?"

Danny doesn't answer.

"I said, do you understand?" He repeats, his voice ringing with irritation.

"I understand!" The boy tersely answers.

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Meanwhile at the prison, Walker, the skeleton-like prison ghost warden clad in his familiar black and white fedora and suit, is making his own plans.

Bellowing out his commands, Warden Walker says to his summoned guards, "That new powerful ghost almost breached the outside of the prison with that horrid howl the last time he was here! And I thought that the ghost punk was the only one who had that kind of power! But never mind! Set up more guards and reinforcements at the front entrance, just in case he should try again. And I need the prisoner in Cell B236, now!"

After a few minutes, the guards have the prisoner before the warden.

"Now, look here, Wulf!" Walker begins. "There is something evil out there. If you help defend this prison, I will set you free and will no longer hunt you. Is it a deal?"

The huge and powerful werewolf-ghost thinks about it a moment and agrees.

"Now, help guard the front entrance, and when you get any whiff of even a hint of trouble, alert us! No one takes this prison while I'm in charge!"

But the guards, who are afraid of the untethered beast, quietly leave the area where Wulf has set up his post, which, of course, is at the front entrance. At first, it seems that all Walker's plans were a waste of time, because Wulf doesn't detect anything awry.

But then, Wulf smells something different. Sniffing again to confirm his hunch, Wulf smiles. To him, it is not a threat, but a friend! He knows that Danny Phantom is near (and, unbeknownst to Wulf, he, of course, detects Dan Phantom, who smells nearly the same!)! He does not alert Walker, and with the hope that his friend will help him, pulls away any extra fortification from the front entrance.

But what Wulf does not know is that Danny Phantom cannot help him, but may very well harm him. Wulf waits in anticipation for Danny's next move, which comes more immediately than he expects...Suddenly, the prison's alarm sounds.

"What is going on?" Walker cries above the din.

One of his lieutenants rushes in and yells, "Sir, someone is breaking **into** the prison!"

"What?" The Warden responds in disbelief. Then, unable to stop himself, he adds, "That's against the rules!"

Danny struggles with the entrance, but he is finally able to penetrate and anchor his claws into the entrance. Screeching in their metallic protest at Danny's onslaught, the doors are no match for the boy's power and they finally yield. The prison is breached.

Wulf immediately jumps with joy out of the large hole, but meets his impassive friend. Confused, the creature is taken off-guard.

"Attack it!" The Dark Phantom commands.

Danny is slow to respond, and the impatient older Phantom steps from behind the poisoned boy and immediately jolts the ghost animal.

Crying in pain and mistaking the teen as his attacker, Wulf reluctantly strikes. But his friend reacts immediately and defends himself with his own set of claws. Their claws clang at the first blow. They grapple and Danny pushes hard against the wolf's own talons and draws nearer to the beast's chest. But then, Wulf counter moves and their claws become entangled. Wulf quickly pushes back at the boy and presses him downward toward the ground.

But Danny, obviously the quicker of the two, yanks his claws away and pulls away, flying toward Wulf's side for another try. Wulf instinctively grabs the boy's charging arm, just barely avoiding the claws. He then throws his young friend aside and tries to speak to the boy in Esperanto.

Confused that the young ghost won't answer, Wulf draws closer, pleading for the teen to stop.

But Danny still fights on the offensive and the struggle is relentless. Each time his friend strikes, the beast is able to pull the younger ghost away or block him before the blow hits its mark and with each of the boy's attempt to strike, Wulf gets more and more dismayed.

The fight, however, doesn't slow, but escalates. And even as they engage in their odd yet fierce fencing match, with the ringing of the striking talons in both of their ears, Wulf is still able each time to repel his friend or spare him from harm. But it seems no matter what Wulf does, Danny counterattacks; and just as strangely, the boy only uses his claw power during the encounter.

Still, the animal is reluctant to hurt the boy and cannot understand why his friend continues to attack. Letting his guard down again momentarily, Wulf makes another attempt to communicate with him. But the flaming red-eyed youth merely answers with another swipe of his claws.

This time, Wulf howls in pain at Danny's successful and powerful blow. Before the youth can land another swipe, however, his friend increases his efforts. Blocking Danny's claws with his own, Wulf purposely twists the claws together and throws the boy over and behind him. Danny instinctively turns in a counterattack and slices at Wulf's back. Wulf cries at the sting and, incensed, jerks around and blindly rushes the boy. Now pouring his strength into the fight, Wulf slowly begins to get the upper hand when the struggle and the effects of the poison finally take their toll on the younger ghost. His efforts finally waning, the young hybrid's breathing becomes more labored with the mounting exhaustion.

Meanwhile, Dan Phantom can hear the approach of the charging guards who have finally come to defend their prison; and when he sees that the boy is beginning to fail, he realizes that the scene in front of him must end. Quickly multiplying into four, the duplicates shoot Wulf and stun the beast. Then not hesitating to grab the senseless creature, one of the duplicates throws him like a bowling ball into the wall of the prison defenders. Just as quickly, another replica discharges the poison, and it rapidly fumigates the fortress.

"Now! Now! Use your freeze ray!" Phantom commands the boy, who, panting heavily with fatigue, is barely able to respond.

Then, finally, the teen obeys and the prison is frozen solid. But the effort is too much, and Danny collapses.

But before he falls unconscious, the youth hears his oppressor's laugh, "Yes! Yes! Now we're off to Skulker's Island! He's just like a whole freakin' army all rolled up into one!"

But when the now recombined ghost turns around to call to the boy, and seeing that the teen is senseless, he jeers, "Such a weakling! Just as well. I would probably need to drag him anyway." He grabs the teen and throwing him over his shoulder, makes their way to Skulker's Island.

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They quickly arrive at the island and the dark Phantom all ready meets with heavy resistance from the ghost hunter.

He lands out of range, pulls Danny off his shoulder, and roughly shakes him.

"Get up! You need to get up! It's time to help me again!"

Danny slowly rouses.

"Now, I'll do most of the work, since you're obviously useless right now. Just keep close-but stay out of the way!"

Danny slowly follows him as the Dark Phantom renews his relentless attack on Skulker.

But Skulker is ready for him, and counters the Phantom's energy rays with his own. The force of the colliding rays, however, comes too close to the hunter and he is repelled back and momentarily stunned. He is barely able to materialize a shield to fight the next beam directed at him. That shield instantly buckles under the blow, but it gives Skulker enough time to recover and he soars toward the jungle, purposely leading the older Phantom toward it.

But Skulker's plan to use his traps against this foe is foiled, as Phantom refuses to be tricked into the jungle. Instead, he continues his attack from the perimeter of the jungle, using a nearby boulder as a shield.

Knowing that he needs a different tactic, Skulker fires a torpedo at the boulder the older Phantom is behind, and like bullets, the shattered rock's remnants repel the future ghost.

Dan Phantom is momentarily stunned by the blast, but is not out of the battle yet. He soars upward and searches for the ghost hunter from above. But he grunts, irritated at seeing that the jungle hides the cyborg ghost from his angry sites; and the ghost hunter thinks he has taken his out-in-the-open foe by surprise as he quickly sets his sites on him.

Skulker immediately sends several missiles his way, but gasps when Phantom is ready after all! Wielding a quick ectoplasmic shield with one hand, the future ghost not only protects himself from the onslaught, but he also quickly replicates to four and concentrates all his firepower on the point of origin of Skulker's attack.

Skulker yells, but it's not from a direct hit, but from a shower of the pulverized tree that he had used as cover as it is struck by the powerful blast.

Their fierce barrage continues and, even though the Ghost Hunter is formidable, he finally needs to rearm. Skulker quickly sets up a decoy gun which can track the Phantom's energy rays, and after securing the trigger to continuously fire at his enemy, Skulker retreats to his heavily fortified lair.

Finally, the decoy weapon runs out of ammunition and when the dark Phantom checks it out, he's incensed that Skulker was successful in outwitting him after all. Soaring to and grabbing the younger Phantom, the older one easily tracks and corners the ghost hunter in his lair.

He immediately besieges the fortress, but it becomes readily apparent that even though his ghostly wail made a huge dent in the wall, the fortress remains firm and his attack ineffective.

Deciding to change his plan of attack, Phantom draws closer to the east side of the stronghold. Suddenly, the evil one's ghost sense goes off, and he shouts to the boy, "There! He's in there! Tear a hole in it, now!"

Like a slow robot, Danny materializes his wulf claws and approaches the lair. He punctures it with both sets of claws and easily rents a large hole in it.

"You!" Skulker yells, utterly in shock to see the young hybrid expose his fortress. "I thought you only attacked to defend, not destroy!" Then the hunter notices the silent boy's pallid face and red, and slightly glowing, eyes staring sadly back at him and he isn't sure what that means.

But the cyborg ghost's hesitation is the dark Phantom's advantage, and the latter quickly douses Skulker with the sparkling green mist.

Coughing violently on the gas, Skulker struggles to pick up his weapon to shoot both of his attackers, but the gas's effects are swift and he drops the weapon and collapses.

However, the evil Phantom does not notice that Skulker's battle suit has given him some protection and the hunter is not out cold yet. But the overconfident victor speaks to the hunter as if he were. "So, you thought you could defeat me? And just because of your stubbornness in fighting me, I'll not let the black shadow decay's poison run its full course in slowly and painfully killing you. Instead, I'll have the pleasure of personally destroying you, now!"

Though not fully senseless, the ghost hunter is helpless to defend himself. Preparing for the final blow, he is surprised that the dark Phantom's hot rays are frozen before he is hit.

"What?" The future ghost yells, staring at his frozen hands in disbelief. Jerking violently toward Danny, he cries, "When are you going to yield, boy?", and smacks the teen so hard with the back of his still frozen hand that the boy is pummeled to the ground amidst the shattered ice shards.

But now convinced that his actions do not matter, the older Phantom jerks the stunned younger one up and looking him straight in the eyes, sneers, "Just as well. The hunter is doomed! And I could say that you did me a favor in not having me waste my energy on such a pathetic creature!"

And turning toward the sky and letting Danny fall to the ground, the dark one, his white hair intensely flaring, roars in his near triumph, "Finally, most of the ghosts have been vanquished! The Black Shadow Decay has done its job better than I thought! When we conquer the Far Frozen, there will be no ghost left in existence to get in my way! I will have the ultimate power and rule both worlds!" Then looking back at the passive fifteen-year-old, he adds, "And you? We shall see what's in store for you!"

Then grabbing the pliant youth by the collar, he stops his rant and says, "But let's first make sure there are no other ghosts hiding out on this island." He quickly soars away with his pawn in tow; and Skulker, surprised by the news of the black shadow decay, finally loses consciousness.


	17. Chapter 17 At Skulker's Island

**A/N: Is it getting juicy, yet? Just wait and see! And it's very juicy to me! The reviews just hit over 100!! Thank you all!! And just to celebrate, I'm throwing in this bonus chapter this weekend!!! And I dedicate this chapter to my 100****th**** reviewer, DPcrazy!! Thanks for everything!! "IDNOAC". Here is Chapter 17. Enjoy!**

His Own Worst Enemy—Chapter 17—At Skulker's Island

But just as Danny and his taskmaster are leaving for the eastern side of Skulker's island, Jazz, Sam and Tucker are arriving at the island from a different direction. Landing the specter speeder next to Skulker's fortress, the friends can see that a terrible battle has just ended. Fearing anything, they strap their wrist ray guns on and hop out of the ship.

"What's happened here?" Jazz anxiously asks.

When they reach Skulker's lair, they see the claw markings and the large hole.

"Has Wulf been here?" Tucker asks, surprised to see the evidence.

After examining the claw marks more closely, Sam gasps, "No, Danny has!"

"But he's sick at home!" Jazz insists.

All three look at each other with distraught faces.

"I don't like this. Let's check it out!" Sam urges.

They squeeze through the hole and see Skulker, who is stirring and has heard the specter speeder.

"Skulker!" Tucker gasps, upset at not only seeing that the hunter's eyes are half-red and half-surrounded by a faint green halo, but also that he now believes that Sam is right about Danny. Tucker then adds, "Look! He must have been poisoned, too! But it's not that bad yet."

Not quite under the control of the poison yet, Skulker murmurs, "So, have his minions come to put me out of my misery? Very well. It's far better than the slow and painful decay in store for me."

"Hey, and just what do you mean by 'his minions'?" Tucker objects.

Ignoring him, Skulker coughs and continues, "Yes, he's been here! The Ghost Child, that is! And he's teamed up with a very powerful ghost whom I have never seen before! But, strangely, that older ghost looked very familiar. And they have infected me with a strange gas."

"Oh, no, he has Danny!" Sam gasps. "His must have somehow gotten out of the Ghost Zone and gone to you house and taken him, Jazz!"

Jazz gasps, now worried not only about Danny, but about her parents and Clockwork as well.

Turning to Skulker and just as worried as the girls, Tucker blurts out, "That older ghost is our Danny's future alternate putrid evil older self!"

"What?" Skulker responds.

"But he's not really him because what was supposed to happen didn't happen and…"

"What are you blathering about?" Skulker asks, irritated. He coughs again.

Desperate to find out where their friend is, the humans quickly fill him in about the Dark Phantom's background and how Danny defeated him once. Skulker doesn't look convinced by their explanation of everything they knew up to that point about the relationship of the two Phantoms.

Finally, Sam pleads, "Skulker, please tell us what happened!"

"And why should I do that? There's only annihilation now. Just let me be!"

Her face skewed in anguish, Jazz begs, "But you saw the Danny **you** know! Did he **look normal** to you?"

Skulker is jolted by her emotional plea. "Now that you mention it, he looked very ill and his eyes were a fiery red…" He gasps as he figures out a connection between the gas, his own exposure, and what the older Phantom had said. He then inadvertently blurts out, "He must have been infected with the Black Shadow Decay, too!" But he stifles himself when he realizes he said too much.

His face still showing as much anxiety as the girls, Tucker excitedly says, "Then you know about that disease!" And then he insists, "And then you must also know about the blood blossoms!"

Totally surprised by Tucker's statement, Skulker coughs and then utters, "Blood blossoms? How do you know about that? They hurt ghosts!" 

Sam quickly adds, "True, but if they are properly purified, they can cure Black Shadow Decay!"

"How do you know this and why should I believe you?" Skulker says, still suspicious.

"Because you know any ghost infected with the Black Shadow Decay is compelled to obey, even against their will, anyone who first speaks to them. And the fifteen-year-old Danny is under that evil future Phantom's control," Jazz insists, and then earnestly adds, "And you know that the Ghost Child would never attack you like he did. He wouldn't attack just to destroy!"

Skulker doesn't say anything at first, but studies each of the teen's faces. He is certain, somehow, that they are telling the truth because of their unmistakably staid desperation.

But still suspicious, he adds, "I still don't know. You know too much! No human has ever known about the blood blossom as we do!"

"That's true," Sam agrees. "But you see, Clockwork trusts us so much that he gave me **'the Book'**."

"Clockwork?" Skulker unwittingly utters, but he quickly catches himself again and says no more.

Sam rushes to the specter speeder and retrieves the book. She thrusts it toward Skulker and it shudders.

"Oh, sorry," She apologizes to the Book. "I just need to prove it to him, that's all." 

The Book rises out of Sam's outstretched hands suddenly and hovers over them. It emanates a bright golden glow and then thrusts its covers open, revealing an even more brilliant light so intense that everyone near it must shield his eyes.

"You do have it!" Skulker says in awe. "And I thought it was only a legend!" 

The Book quickly closes, turns dull again and gently lands back in Sam's arms.

Skulker, hesitant at first and suppressing another cough, finally says, "Well, if Clockwork trusts you, then so will I!"

Jazz reflexively runs up to him to give him a hug but Skulker throws his hands in front of her to ward her off. "Now, not that much!" He objects.

Jazz quickly stops.

"The Book says that blood blossoms grew only in hot places," Sam continues, still trying to assure Skulker that they're there to help. But then she sighs and adds, "But that they're now extinct."

"That is true," Skulker confirms, but then he reflects and says, "No, it's not. They're extinct in the Human World, not here!..." He pauses again and then adds, "Yes, there are some of those plants growing near the top of the westernmost end of Skull Volcano!"

Looking above, Sam closes her eyes and silently mouths a 'thank you!'

Struggling to get up, Skulker coughs on his next reply, "I must guide you there." But then he groans and stumbles.

All three of the teens struggle with all their might to help him back up, but in spite of their efforts, they too, stumble, sending all four of them to the ground.

"Please," the ghost hunter says with uncharacteristic gentleness. "Don't worry about me. Just worry about getting those blossoms. There are traps all over the area, so your flying machine is the best thing to take for safe passage."

"Specter speeder," Jazz reflexively corrects him as she and the others get up off the floor.

Holding his head, Skulker groans and commands, "Now go! I don't want you to see me decay right in front of your eyes!"

"Thank you, Skulker!" They call back in unison as they hop into the speeder, and prepare to take off toward the volcano. They can only hope they can find the cure quickly.


	18. Chapter 18 Deadly Control

**A/N: Hope you're staying with me. Never fear, it only gets better, so hang onto your seats! And this is one of my favorite chapters.. "IDNOAC". Here is Chapter 18. Enjoy!!**

His Own Worst Enemy—Chapter 18—Deadly Control

Unbeknownst to the three teens who are about to speed toward the volcano, the two Phantoms have not left the island yet, as they have been searching for renegade ghosts. Some they easily found and infected. Others were more challenging, but using Skulker's own traps and their combined efforts--even when the younger one was not as effective or cooperative--the two powerful ghosts finally overwhelm the futile attempts of the rebel ghosts to fight or escape.

Satisfied that their search has been both productive and thorough, the older Phantom tells the teen, "We only have to search the western side of the island and then we'll be through, and free to attack the Far Frozen."

The boy says nothing, but his captor is unnerved by the anger and determination he can yet see showing out of the teen's otherwise blank, glowing red eyes. But he doesn't want the younger one to know the doubt which has been growing with each of his protégé's act of resistance. "So, you still try to resist me? I'm very impressed! Here I was thinking that you'd be a pushover and there you stand, still defying me! But hear me, ghost!"

The younger ghost closes his eyes tightly, his mental voice screaming, trying to drown the echoing command of the dark Phantom. _"Don't listen! Don't listen! I can't let him! I can't….I can't…"_ He loses control as he feels his body being lifted and violently shaken by the other, who tries to break his concentration again.

"I said, hear me, ghost!" The dark one again commands, and still holding the teen off the ground, backhands him in the face.

Turning his head back, his more intensely glowing eyes now more blank than angry, Danny mutters, "I hear."

"Good!...But, what's that?" The future ghost stops and looks up and sees the specter speeder, which is just about to leave for the volcano.

But the teens in the ship also see them, and Sam gasps, "Oh, no! There they are, and he's hurting Danny!"

Tucker immediately fires a warning blast next to Phantom and he drops the boy, who falls to the ground.

"Now, Tucker!" Sam commands, and this time Tucker's shot directly hits the older ghost.

"Aarrgghh!" Dan Phantom screams, and falls, momentarily stunned. Then turning to Danny, he commands, "Help me, ghost!"

Tucker fires again, but misses.

Danny slowly looks up at his oppressor but says and does nothing.

"Attack the creatures up there!" The dark ghost commands.

Danny slowly looks upward toward the speeder but doesn't move.

Trying to duplicate, the future ghost's efforts are thwarted when Tucker's aim again hits the evil ghost head-on.

"Hear me!" The older ghost screams to the younger one, both in anger, and in pain from Tucker's last blast. He manages to move; and at last grabbing the boy, shakes him violently.

"Obey, me, ghost! Destroy them!"

Danny begins to shudder, a rapidly weakening voice shrieking in his mind, _"No! No!"_

But Phantom reacts by giving the boy a hard slap to the face. "NOW!" He shrieks.

At that moment, with his blood red eyes now fiercely blazing, Danny, his mind imprisoned by Phantom's reverberating command, can no longer resist. He charges upward, arms outstretched in front of him, as he powers up his energy rays.

"What's Danny doing?" Jazz gasps.

"I think he's going to attack us!" Tucker yells.

"Well, don't just wait for him, get us out of here, Tucker!" Sam screams.

Tucker turns the speeder sharply to the right as they try to outrun their poisoned friend.

"Jazz, take the controls!" Tucker commands. "I'm going to try to create another portal!"

But as soon as Jazz grabs the controls, the ship jerks violently as Danny's beams hit it.

"Hurry, Tucker, that was a bad hit!' Sam screams.

Tucker feverishly pushes buttons as Jazz thinks, _'Please, Danny, you don't want to do this! Fight him!'_ But her silent pleas are answered by another jolt and the specter speeder begins to loose power.

Instinctively, Jazz veers sharply to the left, pulling the ship just out of the sites of the latest assault. Her brother overshoots the spacecraft and doubles back.

Seeing that this attempt at escape was too brief, Jazz pulls the specter speeder in an about-face and heads directly **toward** Danny.

Her eyes widened in terror, Sam yells, "What are you doing, Jazz?"

"Trying to give Tucker more time!" Jazz yells back, and quickly fires at the charging ghost, purposely missing him.

Danny easily avoids the blasts and rushes forward.

This time, Jazz cuts power and they plummet downward, and fortunately, again, her brother overshoots them. He quickly reorients himself and races downward as well.

"Hurry, Tucker!" She screams.

"I'm trying, I'm trying!" He hollers back.

Jazz thrusts the boosters and they again climb with Danny now closing in and shooting at them even as she violently shifts the spacecraft either left or right, down or up, in a mid-air and dangerous game of dodge ball. Sam and Tucker, though strapped in, are jolted in their seats by Jazz's attempts and then by a hard hit to the speeder by one of Danny's rays.

"Tucker!" Sam desperately shrieks, and she grabs and clutches the book Clockwork gave her against her chest.

It shakes, and she whispers with fear, "I know, I'm scared, too!"

"Tucker!" This time Jazz screams as the speeder is hit and begins to slow.

"It's hard to program it with all this jostling, but I almost…."

But he doesn't finish his sentence or his calculations, as Danny has finally caught up and his friends' ship is now held firm under his massive assault. Finally, it can bear it no longer and begins to break up.

The three teens shriek as the noise from the vibration pierces their ears. They close their eyes, waiting for the end. Suddenly, before they know it, their screaming bodies are thrown out by the impact of the exploding specter speeder!

When the spaceship is finally destroyed, Danny, his hands still glowing and smoking, hovers mid-air at the last place where the speeder was before its disintegration. His breathing becomes heavy with the reality and emotion as his mind slowly clears; and with hot tears now flowing down his face, the boy slowly and silently floats downward and lands near his evil self.

The Dark Phantom, having enjoyed watching the attack, and laughing wildly at the outcome, sneers in triumph, "Good! Your fate is sealed! You have succumbed! Now we both now know that you **are** as evil…No! **More** evil than me!"

The younger ghost stands without a word, his fisted hands at his sides. And with tears still silently falling, drops his head in defeat.


	19. Chapter 19  An Unlikely Ally

**A/N: Sorry, I did it to you again! But I do love those cliffhangers and even YOUR cliffies out there keep me hanging on, too! But I didn't have the heart to leave you hanging too long! "IDNOAC". Now, enjoy Chapter 19!**

His Own Worst Enemy—Chapter 19—An Unlikely Ally

"AAARRGGHH!!" Tucker yells, his arms still wrapped around his head and his hand still clutching his PDA. But he suddenly realizes that he's the only one screaming. He stops and slowly opens his eyes and sees Sam, Jazz and Skulker.

"Feeling better?" Skulker deadpans.

"Are we dead?" He squeamishly asks.

"No, we're not!" Jazz announces with shock and relief.

"And Skulker rescued us!" Sam exclaims, still clutching her book.

Shocked, Tucker utters, "He did?"

"Yes, I did, whelp! They did not know that I saw and heard everything that happened between the two Phantoms. The older one from the future was obviously controlling the Ghost Child. He could have only done that if the boy had been poisoned, which I'm now sure he was. So, I am certain that the Ghost Child's attack on you, fight as he might, was against his will and was caused by the strong effect of the poison. But I am also convinced that he is still trying very hard to fight against the poison and that other ghost as much as he can; and from what he did for me not too long ago, it is clear that he is massing as glorious a fight as ever!" The cyborg's voice had a touch of pride in it. "Now, we know that the older Phantom is the real evil, not you friend."

"But when we first saw you, you said that he, the fifteen-year-old Danny, was the bad guy!" Tucker accuses.

"I did not trust you then! Did you expect me to tell you the truth?" 

Tucker skittishly admits, "Well, uh, I guess not!"

"Anyhow, when I heard all the ruckus outside, I struggled to see what was going on. And when I saw what the Evil One was making the Ghost Child do, that is, to destroy you, I couldn't stand by and see that happen. I knew that if the Ghost Child wouldn't allow me to be destroyed, he would most certainly not destroy you unless the control at the time was very deep, which I have no doubt that it was. I am sure that he was delirious at that moment, acting much like you humans do when you have a raging fever… So even though I have been extremely weakened, but not yet fully affected by the decay, I forced myself to go intangible and headed toward your ship. And knowing how you human children can be so unpredictable when you are in a panicking situation…"

Interrupting, Tucker deadpans, "Gee, thanks."

Ignoring him, Skulker continues, "I nabbed all of you with my ghost net, turned all of us intangible and invisible and brought you here just as your spacecraft disintegrated."

The three human children, still in shock over the incident and their rescue, fall speechless in their appreciation to Skulker for having saved their lives.

"We don't know how to ever thank you!" Jazz is finally able to choke out, speaking for all of them.

"Save it! Instead, you can retrieve the blood blossoms, cure your friend, and do all you can to destroy that other ghost! What he's done to his kind is unforgivable!"

With obvious anguish in his voice, Tucker utters, "But, what about Danny? He doesn't know that we're alive. He must be tearing himself up!" He looks to the girls and sees just as much anguish in their faces.

Skulker insists, "The only way to help him right now is to get the blossoms. But, somehow, I believe that he will prevail, that is, if you don't forget him!"

"But we won't forget you or the other ghosts, either!" Sam pipes in. "We will get the cure to all of you, we promise!"

"Do what you can. I'm sure it will be too late for some of us!" He coughs suddenly and unexpectedly stumbles forward and catches himself on a nearby chair. He leans against it and coughs again.

The teens gasp.

"Skulker, we are so sorry!" Sam cries. "We will get the cure!" 

But at the moment, the cyborg ghost cannot say anything else.

"But how are we going to get to the blossoms?" Tucker asks.

Skulker harshly whispers, "I cannot help you. My strength is now spent!"

The three humans hang their heads. Then Jazz speaks. "It's simple. We just walk to the volcano, that's all."

"You don't understand, Jazz," Sam explains. "We phase through everything here, remember? We'll just phase through the volcano instead of climbing it. Then, we won't be able to reach the blossoms at all!"

"Then, there is no hope," Skulker weakly says.

Disheartened again, the three humans and ghost fall silent.

Then, Tucker brightens and excitedly says, "I know! Uh, Skulker, do you have any more of those orange glowing bands? You know, the ones…." And he gulps at the memory, "…that made us vulnerable here?"

"Yes, I do. You are not thinking of using those, are you? Remember, there are lots of traps between here and the westernmost side of the volcano, and each one of them is very dangerous if you were to be tangible and susceptible here."

Tucker's eyes widen with his next sudden thought, and then announces, "Then we'll just put the bands on just before we need to climb the mountain!"

"You do not understand," Skulker begins. "**I** have to activate the bands myself and I will not have the strength to go with you to the volcano. I will have to activate them **here**."

The teens look at each other silently and then Jazz declares, "Well, we're wasting time! Let's do it. We have to…." She swallows hard from the weight of their mission. "…for everyone's sake!"

The ghost smiles weakly, "You humans' ability to muster your courage under the direst circumstances still amazes me!"

He directs Tucker to where the bands are and then one-by-one, he activates them on each teen. When he is finished, he says, "Good luck!"

Placing the book in her backpack, Sam waits as Jazz and Tucker also ready themselves. Just as they are about to leave, they hear Skulker cough violently. They turn to him, but he silently waves them on.

Suddenly, Sam jerks back again and says, "But what about a map?"

But when the threesome looks to him for a reply, they see that he can no longer answer, because he has finally succumbed to the decay.


	20. Chapter 20  The Trek Begins

**A/N: Ohmigosh!! This story has had over 2900 hits!!! Thank you for reading and I hope you're enjoying it!! And because I'm a little off schedule, I'm going to post three chappies this weekend to get back on track!!! So, here's the first of the trio: Chapter 20. "IDNOAC". Enjoy!!**

His Own Worst Enemy—Chapter 20—The Trek Begins

As they begin their trek to the volcano, Jazz turns to the others and insists, "Now, we're going to have to think this through logically. I'm sure that the easiest way will be the most dangerous."

"So, should we be taking the path?" Tucker asks.

Sam, very determined and serious about getting the blossoms, replies, "Really, guys, what choice do we have? We don't have a map and I'm sure we'd easily get lost here. We'll just have to be extra careful. Besides, we still have our wrist ray guns as some kind of defense."

Tucker, who is walking a little ahead of the girls, begins, "Yeah, we'll just have to keep our ears and eyes open, and……eeyow!" Tucker screams as the ground in front of him suddenly opens up, revealing a pit full of ghost asps. The hissing snakes are all ready straining themselves like overactive coils in their attempt to reach the teen. Tucker doesn't need to see their large threatening fangs or the venom dripping from them to know that they can't wait to get at him.

Teetering dangerously at its brink, he finally manages to step back—as Sam steps forward to help-- but more of the ground collapses, leaving him—but not the girls--now precariously perched on a small dirt island surrounded by the pit. This only makes the snakes more agitated, and as if they were in competition, each intensifies its efforts to be the first one to strike.

"Guys! HELP!" Tucker screams, panicking when his efforts to dodge the snakes and keep his balance begin to fail.

The girls frantically search for something to help him. Spying some vines, Sam quickly yanks one down, ties a fast knot, and lassos it around Tucker just as he loses his balance battle and falls into the pit.

Reflexively bringing her fisted hands to her chin, Jazz screams in shock.

Though Tucker is now dangling—and yelling-- only a few feet above the asps, the force of his weight throws Sam forward to the ground. But it doesn't end with that. Tucker, of course, struggles to stay out of the striking range of the asps; and inadvertently, his weight begins to drag Sam to the pit as well, as he oozes closer to the snakes.

Panting and yelling, Sam commands, "Jazz! Help me!"

Her cry snaps Jazz back to reality and the older girl quickly grabs the end of the vine, wraps it around a nearby tree, and pulls on it with all her weight. Her effort is enough for Sam to regain her footing, and together, the girls are able to pull Tucker back up to the little dirt island.

Sam quickly goes behind Jazz and grabs another part of the creeper. Bracing the vine with their combined weight, Sam yells, "Tucker, you're going to have to jump! We have you! Ready?"

He nods both in fear and in determination to get out of there as soon as possible.

"OK, on three!!...One….Two…THREE!" As Tucker lifts himself in the air, the girls tug with all their weight and might, pulling the slack sharply toward them.

Tucker is pulled to safety!

"Man, you better lay off the fries at the _Nasty Burger_," Sam dryly reminds him, though he can see that her face has betrayed her, and it shows only relief.

Tucker smiles weakly and answers, "Thanks, Sam, I will!"

Grabbing nearby sticks, the threesome test the surrounding ground near the pit. Satisfied that the turf will support their weight, they begin to inch around the pit, but not before Tucker exclaims,"Wait a minute! We'd better take some of that vine with us. You never know if we'll need it again!" He hurries to retrieve more of the creeper and they continue onward, ready for anything...

After trudging for over an hour, their pace slows.

The noises of the jungle get louder, or seem to get louder. Tired and exasperated, Tucker stops and says, "I could have waited all my life to hear these all too familiar creepy sounds again!" Then he yells out toward the jungle, "Don't they _**ever shut up**_?"

Unexpectedly, all the jungle sounds **cease**!"

"OK, Tucker, What did you do?" Jazz nervously asks.

"Nothing, I swear!"

"I don't like this," Sam utters.

They continue forward, but then Jazz stops, points, and gasps, "What's that?"

"It looks like a poorly camouflaged net," Sam says.

Picking up a large rock, Tucker announces, "I got it!" He tosses it into the center of the net, easily springing it. The teens watch the yo-yoing of the rock while passing under the net instead of looking down and spotting the **trip wire **at their ankles! They, of course, trip on **that** one and all three fall to the ground. Before they can react, a very large cage falls on top of them, and, well, traps them.

"Is everyone all right?" Jazz calmly asks.

Skewing his face, Tucker dryly responds, "Well, if you mean, do we now know how to relate to canned sardines, then yes, we're fine."

"Well, at least we can still stand up in this thing," Jazz adds.

But Sam kicks the ground and fumes, "I should have guessed that the real trap was the one we just sprung, not that idiotic net!"

"Don't be too hard on yourself, Sam," Tucker tries to calm her. "We all were fooled by it!" Then he has an idea. "Hey! Maybe all three of us can go to one side of this thing and lift it off of us!"

They react quickly to his suggestion and gather to one side. With each of them grabbing a bar, they strain to lift that part up. At first, they are encouraged as the side begins to rise. But the weight of the cage proves to be too much for them and it slams back down on the ground with a loud thud.

Still panting from the effort, Jazz tries to assure the others, "Now, let's just try to remain calm and think this all through."

They look at each other and then lean against the bars and slide to the ground, dejected.

After silently racking their brains to come up with any kind of a solution to their dilemma, Tucker, trying to remain upbeat, comments, "Well, at least it's quiet enough for us to be able to try to think!"

But then all of the sudden, they hear a thunderous rumbling in the distance. They all look at each other again, dreading what that awful noise could be.

"Quiet! I like the quiet!" Tucker yells, hoping to work a little more of that imaginary "magic" he had before.

"Tucker, can you lift me up?" Sam quickly asks. "I think I see something that's in the same direction as the noise." She points to a cloud of dust that seems to be headed their way.

"I see it, too!" Jazz exclaims.

Tucker gives her a quick boost and she strains to see any other evidence of what's coming.

Finally, she shrieks, "Ohmygosh! There's a stampede of some kind of grotesque-looking ghost elephant thingies…..and they're headed **right** toward us!"


	21. Chapter 21 Determined Struggle

**A/N: OHMIGOSH (again!) Now this story has over 3000 hits!! Thank y'all. My mouth is watering!! (well, it's been doing that for a while). I really DO appreciate your interest! Don't be shy to review as well. I do respond to everyone's review, because if you took the time to write it, I make sure I take the time to answer...So, without more waterfalling, here is Chaper 21. And , of course, "IDNOAC". Enjoy!**

His Own Worst Enemy—Chapter 21—Determined Struggle

"Maybe we can use our wrist ray guns on them?" Tucker suggests, panicking.

"There are too many of them!" Sam screams, also panicking.

Jazz, who in the midst of the horror headed their way somehow manages to screw up her normal level-headedness, commands, "Quick, Tucker and Sam, the vines! We need to tie ourselves to the cage! That way, if we—I mean, the cage—gets hit, we won't be thrown around inside like billiard balls!"

The other two, knowing that this is as good a plan as any, quickly go to work. And they finish with a not a moment to lose, as the deafening din of the nearly-upon-them stampede roars in their ears and they cough on the whirlwind of dust that the ghosts' charge has created.

Grabbing the bars and praying, the teens brace themselves, close their eyes and scream at the impact, not daring to watch as their cage is kicked around like a soccer ball.

Finally, the stampede passes and they slowly open their eyes. The first thing they see is-- no bars! The ghost elephant-like thingies have shoved the cage over for them! Forgetting their slight bruises, they excitedly untie themselves and crawl out of the cage.

"Is everyone all right?" Jazz asks, and she retrieves the vine, recoils it and hands it to Tucker, who puts it in his backpack.

"Yeah," both Tucker and Sam in turn say, rubbing their arms.

"Well, then, let's keep going!" The oldest announces.

After a couple of hours of cautiously slow trudging, and not finding—or at least, not setting—any other traps, they come upon a small stream.

"Finally! Water!" Tucker exclaims and he quickly kneels and reaches down into the stream. Cupping his hands, he scoops up some water and washes his face and then drinks. The girls quickly follow his lead, and are also refreshed.

"And I'm starving!" Tucker continues, not missing a beat.

"We're all hungry…and tired," Jazz admits. "But, look," She says, pointing, "We're almost there!"

They resume their journey and they suddenly see another trip wire at eye's height just ahead of them.

"Now what?" Sam sighs.

"Well, it has been a while," Tucker remarks. "I was beginning to think that Skulker had finally run out of those things!"

They approach the wire slowly, inspecting every angle of it. Two large boulders on either side straddle it. And there is obviously impassibly thick shrubbery surrounding the path at this point as well.

"This looks too easy," Sam mutters dryly.

"Well, we can't go around it. We'll just have to take the chance," Jazz replies.

The teens slowly duck under the trip wire, eyeing it and all around it as carefully as they can as they inch forward. But what the threesome didn't see is the electronic eye beaming at the same height as their knees, which, of course, they activate.

Suddenly, Sam hears an odd humming sound. "Everyone down!" She commands, and instinctively they all hit the deck as a shower of red darts sprays all around them.

"Eeyow!" Tucker screams. "I've been hit!"

The girls gasp when they see the dart imbedded in Tucker's leg. They dare not touch it at first, in fear should they inadvertently hurt him more. But after several moments, the girls are sure that the dart has not affected Tucker.

"What gives?" Tucker says, asking himself more than his friends. He reaches down and pulls the dart out of his pants leg. Then reaching in the cargo pants pocket that had been attacked by the dart, he pulls out two granola bars. He laughs, "Well, what do you know? I forgot about my emergency supply of food!"

The girls sigh in relief, while the boy quickly divides the granola bars evenly among them. They all thankfully relish the morsels. Now somewhat refreshed, they continue on their way and finally reach the lava pits at the foot of the volcano.

Sam shivers at the memory and utters, "Major déjà vu for me, too, Tucker! But we need to purge it from our minds and get the blossoms!"

The teens are so relieved and renewed in hope that they are finally near the end of their journey that they do not notice the large plants that line along this final pathway to the volcano. Nor does the trio notice that the plants change their position as the teens pass them, as if tracking the intruders, which, indeed, the plants are doing.

Suddenly, the book in Sam's backpack begins to shake, "What's wrong, my friend?" She asks just as she's hoisted off the ground.

Aaarrghh!" All three of the youths scream as the plants attack.

Jazz immediately fires her wrist ray gun with her free hand and successfully disables several of the plants.

Sam and Tucker, however, are quickly seized and the plants leave them no opportunity to defend themselves.

Jazz continues to blast away at the plant that has her and it quickly surrenders and drops her.

"Hang on, guys!" She yells, but before she can aim at the plants that have Sam and Tucker, another plant grabs her from behind, pinning her arms at her side. Using her legs, she tries to kick it away, but it quickly entangles her feet and then engulfs her. She is now not only helpless in her struggle, but she cannot see her friends anymore.

Suddenly, her blood curdles when she hears the piercing, painful screams of her friends. "Sam! Tucker!" She desperately shrieks, still struggling hard, but the answer she gets is not what she expected. Two beams from two different wrist rays strike at the plant holding her and she's released and falls to the ground.

The two younger teens immediately help her to her feet.

"What happened? Why weren't you eaten?" Jazz asks, stunned.

Sam and Tucker show her their scratched arms and smile.

Tucker announces, "Check it out! Those are _**ghost-eating**_ plants, and we taste like **humans**, not ghosts! With just one bite of us, they shuddered and literally spit us out and let us go!"

"Well, I'm glad I didn't have the same opportunity to be nibbled at...or to see if we taste like chicken!" Jazz remarks with a relieved smile. "But are you sure you're all right?"

Her friends nod. Now more focused than ever, the trio knows that they are ready for the last part of their quest.


	22. Chapter 22 Earned Hope

**A/N: "IDNOAC". Enjoy Chapter 22!!**

His Own Worst Enemy—Chapter 22--Earned Hope

Finally, Jazz, Sam and Tucker reach the bottom of the volcano. Their faces fall, feeling very small as they look up at the daunting mountain. Jazz quickly points out a narrow pathway just to their right that looks like it leads upward.

"Do you think the blossoms are at the top?" Tucker gulps.

Her jaw set with determination, Sam answers, "It doesn't matter. We have to reach them!"

"Well, then, let's all try to be as safe as we can," Jazz adds. "Tucker, let's get the vine and tie it around each of us. We can't be too careful, you know."

The two younger teens nod and they tie themselves in tandem. Then looking at each other for encouragement, they take a deep breath and move toward the pathway with Jazz leading, Sam in the middle, and Tucker in the rears.

"Wait!" Sam utters before they start their climb. "I remember what the blood blossoms look like…"

"And I'll never forget how they taste!" Tucker chimes in.

"But you haven't seen them, Jazz, and I want to make sure we don't miss them. So, let's see if the Book has a picture of what they look like so that all three of us have a better chance of spotting any of them along the way, OK?"

Sam takes off her backpack, retrieves the Book and opens it. She gently commands, "Blood blossom, please! I mean, can you show a picture of the blood blossom, uh, for **all** of us to see, please?"

The book immediately obliges her and a picture of the plant appears on its page. All three of them huddle over Sam's shoulder and they concentrate, imprinting the image in their minds.

"Are we all ready?" Sam asks and the other two nod. "Good. Thank you, Book!" The picture disappears and the Sam quickly puts the book back into her backpack. "OK, I'm ready. Let's go!" She announces.

The climb is laborious, but each of them is resolved to find the flowers. As they scale the volcano, they stop periodically to inspect the foliage. Disappointed that their search will be longer, they continue upward.

Finally, they reach a ledge several hundred feet above the rest of the island. This ridge has a long protective overhang and is partially imbedded in the volcano, so that it is more like a miniature cavern than a ledge. They decide to rest there.

"I could sure use another granola bar!" Tucker laments.

"Well, as long as you can keep yourself from eating the blood blossoms, then we will all wait to eat," Sam says with a wry smile.

Holding his stomach at the memory, Tucker replies, "Don't worry, Sam, I'm not **that** hungry!"

After they feel that they have rested enough, they venture out of their haven and start their climb again. They have only progressed about a hundred feet or so, when all of the sudden, the ground under them begins to shake.

"What's that?" Tucker yells.

"The volcano! It must be about to erupt or something!" Jazz screams.

Fatigue finally taking its toll, Sam indignantly yells, "Of course!"

They look up and gasp at the hot steam spewing out of the mountain top. Panicking, they all scan upward as the quaking continues, but, fortunately, they can see no lava oozing outward, at least not for now... But as they continue to gawk at the top, hoping not to see anything molten, the quaking suddenly mounts. It becomes so violent that the teens loose their balance and then their grip, and begin to slide precipitously downward, screaming all the way.

Tucker, now in the lead, spies the ledge at which they had been earlier and steers his descent toward it. Encouraged by his success, he quickly throws himself into the crevice. He immediately regains his footing, braces himself between two nearby rocks, and reels Sam in, who in turn helps him pull Jazz to safety.

Filthy, bruised and cut, but otherwise all right, the three huddle together at what seems like their whole world collapsing around them. They can see rocks and debris roaring past their shelter's opening with such force, it's as if they were watching a torrent of rock and dirt. Then suddenly, several large boulders make their way down the volcano and lodge themselves on the edge of the ledge. In no time, the three teens are sealed in their mini-cavern.

Finally, the vibration dissipates and all three sit in total darkness, coughing on the dust.

"It's like everything is against us!" Sam screams, and she buries her face in her hands.

Looking in the direction of Sam's voice and quickly melting into her discouragement, Tucker adds, "Yeah, now I know what Danny meant when he said he had enough sampling of all the traps here!"

"Danny!" Sam cries softly after hearing his name. She begins to sob.

Again taking charge of the situation, Jazz says, "Guys! Get a grip! At least there was no lava on this side! And we're still OK and we can still do this!" She gropes in the dark, edging slowly toward what used to be the entrance of their shelter. She finds the first stone that blocks the opening and throws it aside.

"It's not that thick!" She announces cheerfully. "I can see light!"

Encouraged by her report, the other two join her.

But after several moments of grunting and yanking, Tucker finally suggests, "Uh, don't you think the wrist rays would be better tools than our hands?"

"Duhh!!!" The girls agree, hitting themselves on their forehead for not thinking about it sooner.

All three focus their rays on one spot and blast through the rest of the rubble.

Coughing on the dust again, they step to the edge of the precipice and survey the area. Suddenly, Sam points to an area just to the left of them and excitedly cries out, "I see some! I see the blood blossoms!"

They hurry over to where Sam had been pointing, and realize why they hadn't seen them before. The volcanic eruption had dislodged a giant boulder that had blocked their view of an entire field of the flower.

The trio gathers as many of the blossoms as they can, stuffing them into Sam's and Tucker's backpacks and all of Tucker's pockets, except for the one that holds his PDA. But upon smelling the flower again, Tucker becomes slightly nauseated and needs to be helped back to the crevice.

Once they have returned to their haven, Sam and Jazz look at each other with the same obvious question on their minds. "And just how are we going to get back to the Real World without the specter speeder?" Sam finally frets out loud.

Tucker weakly smiles in spite of his queasiness. "I never worried about that!" He utters, patting his PDA. Having all ready programmed the PDA before their first climb from the precipice, he pushes a button and a small portal forms next to them.

"Tucker, you're the best!" Sam says.

Tucker smiles weakly again and belches as they all enter the Real World with their treasure.

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	23. Chapter 23 Deadly Encounter

**A/N: "IDNOAC". Also one of my personal favorite chaps. Here is Chapter 23. Enjoy!**

His Own Worst Enemy—Chapter 23—Deadly Encounter

Meanwhile, just after Phantom thought that Danny's friends had been destroyed, and he had crushed the boy's will, he turns to Danny and insists, "Now, I will not stand for anymore fight from you."

He glides to the silent teen and lifts his head. But Danny pulls away and refuses to look at his older self.

The Dark Phantom continues nevertheless, "Tsk, tsk. Tears. Such weakness from one so wicked a ghost as yourself cannot be allowed! They were not worth it. I decided that years ago. It made me stronger….Besides, we have much more conquering to do, so dispense with the sentiments! We still have those ice creatures to deal with!"

Danny doesn't seem to respond to the older one's diatribe at first, but then the older Phantom swears he hears the boy mutter, "Then how can you ever understand?"

Suspicious, but undaunted by the boy's reaction, the future ghost grabs the passive teen by the collar and soars upward, heading toward the cold wasteland of the Far Frozen...

But as their trek to the Far Frozen continues, the older Phantom soon realizes that no matter how much he tries to command the boy, he cannot get the youth to do anything at all in subduing and infecting any and all ghosts in their path. And then he understands why. Danny's refusal during this time is not from resistance. It is from his obvious grief. The youth simply cannot focus; and, in fact, because of his anguish, he cannot even hear the older Phantom's rants.

Finally, exasperated by this unexpected burden, the older ghost lands on a nearby floating, empty ghost shelf. He knows he must get the youth to comply soon. But underneath, he also doesn't want to deal with the boy's grief.

Drawing the younger one up to him so that they are now face-to-face, he sneers, "Can't you understand that your petty emotions are of no importance to me? The seed of evil within you cannot be undone!"

But the boy casts his eyes downward and sadly mutters, "Can you be so empty? Are all feelings lost from you? You will never understand the pain, then…" He pauses; and then as if he finally heard the evil one's comments, quietly adds, "Yes, I am evil but I don't care anymore! And the pain is unbearable! Go do what you want, but just leave me alone!"

The dark Phantom's eyes widen in disbelief. And, for the first time, his mind is in turmoil. He wanted to vanquish the boy, yes, but not to the point that the teen would be useless in helping him in his plans. And in a strange way now, the boy seems to be in control again! How could this be? He still needed the youth's powers, but in his current condition, that would be impossible.

And Dan Phantom is suddenly unnerved. This kind of resistance is even more powerful than the boy's anger. The older ghost knows that he can not fight **this.** It, too, is fueled by the same weak emotions that almost overcame him many years ago—until he finally ridded himself of them. And just as sudden, unexpected memories flood his mind. Lost feelings and whispers echo within him and he gasps. Closing his mind to them, he decides he must regain control over the boy, not only for any chance of success in his ultimate plans, but for his own sake.

And then recovering his wits, he realizes his slip and grows angry for letting the boy manipulate him. He knows what he needs to do. Lifting the boy up and pulling him up face-to-face again, he hisses in rage, "You are still under my power, do you hear, boy? You will do as I command! And let it burn in your mind that you are so evil that you do not deserve to ever be released from me!" And he pulls back and gives a blow to the younger ghost that is so hard that the boy is pummeled to the ground and is momentarily still.

"There! That should activate the poison again," The Phantom harshly whispers.

As he lays stunned in pain and anguish, Danny can feel his mind yielding to the words of the shrieking voice. And as unwilling obedience—and even despair— replace his grief once more, he swears he can hear a faint, yet encouraging, other voice call.

Phantom lifts the limp boy off the ground, and seeing that the boy's eyes glare bright red again, he says in confidence, "Good. Do you hear me, ghost?"

"Yes, I hear," Danny barely whispers.

"We've wasted far too much time. The Far Frozen is near and waiting for our attack!"

"As you wish," Danny again barely mutters.

The older ghost grabs him and quickly soars upward as they resume their mission. Before long, and after spreading the Black Shadow Decay on any ghost they meet along the way, the two Phantoms near their designation.

** xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx-**-

But long before he had taken Danny, the older Phantom had already attacked the people of the Far Frozen and their leader, Frostbite, and failed...

So, the ice creatures are on their guard… And Frostbite knows they have to be ready, especially since word has finally reached them of the impending new invasion...

Standing at the edge of their land, Frostbite and a small band of scouts are scanning beyond their borders. Finally, one of the ice creature soldiers turns and says to Frostbite, "Sir, we are ready to do battle…And is it true? The Great One is coming to destroy us?"

Frostbite hesitates to answer, but finally replies, "I do not know and do not want to even have such a thought as that. But we cannot deny the rumors that have made their way to us. We no longer hear from the Ghost Zone outside of our land, which leads me to believe the whispers are true. We have to be ready for anything, even if it is not what we want to accept."

"But what is it? What evil is coming our way?" Another asks.

"The reports are of a strange disease, something that may very well destroy us all!"

Those around Frostbite gasp.

"But what can we do?" One of the beasts asks.

"We are ready to do battle, and battle we must. We may very well be the last stronghold against this evil. And this is what we must do…."

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**-

Finally, the entrance to the Far Frozen looms ahead and the future Phantom hisses to the younger one, "We will have to be quick! These beasts are tough and, of course, have their ice powers. So, **you** are going to have to be the one to lead the attack. I will infect them just as soon as you can render them helpless. Do you understand?"

The glowing red-eyed youth nods but does not answer, and then suddenly shudders.

As if he can feel the boy's continuing turmoil, the older Phantom jerks the boy toward him and insists, "You **will **obey me, ghost! Remember just what evil you are and what you did! You cannot prevent my victory or resist my commands any longer!"

But he jolts when he see Danny's reaction. The familiar anger is still glowing in the boy's eyes. But that is not all. Now that anger is clearly mixed with grief—and what, even pity? He quickly releases the boy and says no more.

They soar pass the border of the Far Frozen and continue to penetrate into the territory. But, eerily, the land is silent and there is no hint of its inhabitants. Somehow sensing what the ice creatures' tactic may be, the disheartened younger ghost suddenly feels a hint of a smile grow on his face.

Then all of a sudden, a shower of ice spikes is propelled toward them. Reacting instinctively, the evil Phantom charges a bubble of red ectoplasmic energy that protects him and his younger other self.

"Now! We must be quick! They were ready for us!" He commands as he discharges the shield, and both of them now take the offensive.

With their combined powers, they easily defeat this skirmish, but it has only just begun.

Over and over the duo defeat the small pockets of rebels, each time with Danny's freezing them solid and the evil Phantom's infecting them with the Black Shadow Decay. But also with each battle, the Dark Phantom still needs to goad his protégé into doing his part, fueling the older ghost's irritation.

Finally, the revolt is crushed and all that is left is Frostbite himself, with a handful of fighters. The Phantom and his younger self quickly rush to finish them off. In no time, they have cornered the rest of the ice creatures in one of the caves.

As the brave fighters rally around to protect their leader, Danny takes aim at three of them at once. Aiming his eyes and one of his hands, he pours on his ice power on two of them, and thrusts ice spikes at the other. All three stop the attack momentarily with their own rays, but then the older Phantom follows up with his own red ectoplasmic rays, destroying their effort and beating them back while duplicating and blasting at all the others at the same time. Danny then repeats with more intense ice beams and the three are vanquished, frozen in defeat.

Danny and his nemesis repeat the onslaught with the few remaining defenders. The fight is intense, but Frostbite's young pupil has obviously out-mastered the teacher as Danny defeats all the ice creatures with his combination of ice and ectoplasmic power, and now takes aim at Frostbite.

The older Phantom suddenly and purposely pulls back. And waits. He will especially relish this encounter. Victory would not be any more delicious than seeing his protégé delve into a more evil course of action.

Alone and mortified that the Great One has indeed come to destroy them, Frostbite is still determined to fight to the end. But his friendship with the boy is too strong and he tries to reason with him during their battle. "O Great One, why do you do this to your friends? Don't you know that it is I, your friend, Frostbite, whom you attack? What have we done to you to cause you to bring such evil upon us? And who is this other powerful ghost with you? I have never seen him before. And why the same mark on his chest?"

But Danny does not answer and merely escalates his attack. He thrusts ice spikes wildly at Frostbite, but the Far Frozen leader is able to thwart them with his own ice beams. Then much to the chagrin of his friend, Danny counterattacks right away with an intense ice ray pouring from his eyes. Frostbite is barely able to hold the blow with an ice shield. But the shield is quickly frozen by the boy's cold energy and then shattered by an immediate bombardment of his ice spikes.

Then in the midst of their fight, Frostbite now notices that his young friend is obviously ill with his pallid, drawn skin and fiercely glowing, and strangely sad, red eyes. And the boy's silence during his attack also strikes the ice creature as unusual.

Turning to the older Phantom and still defending himself, Frostbite demands, "What have you done to him?"

Dan Phantom laughs and commands, "Stop attacking, ghost!"

Danny immediately obeys and hovers silently.

The future ghost then turns to Frostbite and says, "Obstinate to the end, aren't you, Frostbite? Though I don't have to answer to you or anyone else anymore, I feel so unstoppable that telling you everything is insignificant. If you must know before you suffer the same fate, I was that boy's future self, but now I'm free of him. I am invincible! And since I both needed him and want him destroyed, I've infected the little wart of myself with Black Shadow Decay."

"Black Shadow Decay?" Frostbite gasps. "That explains it all. And you shamefully forced him to attack his friends! How could you?"

"Like this," Phantom says, spraying Frostbite with the mist. The large ice creature doesn't even cough on it and is obviously unaffected.

"Our people are very resilient to that disease," Frostbite informs the shocked older Phantom. "It'll take more than that to conquer us!"

Frostbite immediately bombards the future ghost with ice spikes but Dan Phantom readily counterattacks and destroys them. On they fight, but Frostbite is able to freeze all of the red beams aimed at him and throws several ice masses back at his attacker.

As Frostbite continues to pummel his foe with forceful ice chunks, it finally looks as if the ice creature will win when, suddenly, the Dark Phantom yells to the teen, "Hear me, ghost!"

The fifteen-year-old turns to him.

"Strike!" His nemesis screams, his voice straining with the effort as he struggles to push back an ice beam with a red shield.

Danny only shivers and tightly closes his barely glowing red eyes.

"Attack I say!" He desperately shrieks as his now frozen shield shatters.

Frostbite gasps as his young friend slowly turns and aims at him. Though dismayed at the boy's reaction, the ice beast refuses to defend himself against him and continues in his attack with the older Phantom.

In a moment, Frostbite is entirely frozen. But unbeknownst to the future Phantom, the ice that encases the leader of the Far Frozen is surprisingly thin, so thin that Frostbite is conscious of what has happened. The ice creature silently smiles, _"The Great One didn't completely freeze me! He is resisting. Keep fighting it, my boy, I believe in you!"_

"Ha, Ha!" Dan Phantom yells. "Victorious! I am victorious! In this subzero frozen land, it does not matter that the poison doesn't affect them. These creatures will be encased forever! And with my army of doomed ghost slaves, I will easily vanquish the Real World!"

Meanwhile, the youngest ghost silently stands, shaking, his red eyes fading.

Finally calming down, the evil Phantom turns to the boy and sneers, "And you! Does your evil know no end? Ha! But, no, you don't deserve this glory with me! You have done nothing to merit it. And I will have no rivals! You have fought me every inch of the way, even when you've had enough Black Shadow Decay to destroy five ghosts! How that can be, I don't know... Maybe it's your human half that's been able to resist. Maybe, like Frostbite said, your ice powers made you resilient. Maybe it's your infernal ghost side—the same half as mine—the weaker ghost, the one with compassion that has stubbornly resisted. How we got this kind of ghost in us I curse why."

"But it doesn't matter. That ghost, the pathetic weak one in you, will also be destroyed. And now the time has come to end our little forced partnership! I can lead the other infected ghosts on the war against the humans all on my own. I no longer need you!"

He slowly brings out the device containing the Black Shadow Decay. But just as the evil Phantom is about to discharge the gas, he is jolted by a huge blast of the young teen's green ectoplasmic energy.

"Aarrggh! Stop I say!" He cries, as he is thrown violently into the nearby wall. Staggering up, he gasps, "I don't believe it! How?" Then now fully recovered and incensed at the boy's continued stubbornness, he jeers, "But it no longer matters, as you will now not only be history, but a forgotten history!"

Frostbite gasps under his thin ice tomb, helpless to stop it as the evil Phantom discharges an ectoplasmic ray with one hand and delivers the fatal dose to Danny Phantom with the other hand.

Unable to mentally break from the last command the Dark Phantom made, Danny, helpless to defend himself, absorbs the combination blow of poison and ray. The pain is excruciating and the youngest ghost immediately screams and then coughs violently, convulsing and falling to the ground as the poison consumes him. In less than a moment, he is totally still.

Turning the boy over and putting his head to the boy's chest, the Phantom gasps in unsettled disbelief, "What? Still a heartbeat? Ha! It doesn't' matter. It will be over soon!"

The Dark Phantom then soars away to amass his hapless and powerful ghost army.

Finally managing to burst out of his ice case, Frostbite rushes over and scoops up the limp boy, and cries, "I cannot bear the thought of it! And I cannot bear the thought of this brave child dying out here in my cold world! Though no longer in the clutches of that vile creature, he cannot escape the Black Shadow Decay!"

He carries the young hero into the abode that holds the Infi-Map and lays him gently on a nearby bed. Sadly bowing his head, the huge beast silently cries. After a moment, he looks up and he glances at the chest that contains the Infi-Map and makes a resolved decision.

"Not only will I not let him die in the cold, but I will not let him die away from his family and friends!" He retrieves the map from the chest and lays it out on another nearby bed. Then gently picking up the young ghost, Frostbite places his friend on the map, and wraps the map around him just as if the map were a blanket. Concentrating intensely, the ice creature activates the map. And at the last moment, he pulls his hands away and the map speeds away, cradling the deathly still boy.


	24. Chapter 24 Dying Hope

**A/N: "IDNOAC". Still another fav chap of mine. Are you ready for Chapter 24? Here it is, and Enjoy!**

His Own Worst Enemy—Chapter 24—Dying Hope

"Now it says here that the blossom must be crushed gently before mixing with ectoradium dust, being sure not to let any the blossom juice ooze out. It will turn kinda orange-ish in color when it's right. Thank goodness that it only takes one blossom and just a smidgen of ectoradium dust to cure over a thousand ghosts!" Sam carefully reads to Mr. and Mrs. Fenton from the Book.

"We'll have more than enough, then. But I hope we didn't crush them too harshly on the way here," Jazz frets.

Her parents work feverishly, following Sam's instructions precisely. Along each step, they scan the mixture with a computer device, compiling the results. Finally, the mass turns orange.

"Oh, no!" Sam cries, still looking down at the book. "The last step says that the mixture isn't fully purified unless it's filtered through ghost blood! Where will we get that?"

The Fentons stop working. Everyone is stunned, having no clue as to where to get that rarity.

Jazz then brightens with her idea. "Mom! Didn't you take blood samples from Danny?"

Her mother nods weakly.

"Do you still have them?"

This time Jack answers, "Yes, and our analysis showed that Danny has ghost blood intermixed with his human blood! All we need to do is separate them, which will be easy, because the ghost blood floats upward, away from the human blood. And then we can use his ghost blood to filtrate the antidote!"

They all look at each other with renewed conviction, and go right to work, not speaking what is on each of their minds: their dread over not knowing Danny's whereabouts and what evil the future Phantom might be doing to their loved one.

Finally, they know the serum is ready, as according to the book, it turned a dull pale green.

"Antidote! We have an antidote!" Maddie cries.

Sam rechecks the instructions and announces, "In order for it to be immediately and unquestionably effective, it, too, must be administered as an aerosol….But, there is a common side effect. The ghosts are most likely to have amnesia."

"That could be good news and bad news," Jazz says.

"What do you mean?" Maddie asks.

"Well, the good news is that the ghosts won't remember what happened to them and they'll sort of be back to their normal, well, ghost selves. But if we can get it to Danny, he also might not remember anything and we'll still have to deal with that wicked future ghost."

"Well, that's a risk we all are going to have to take," Jack answers, uncharacteristically making the decision for everyone. "Without the antidote, not one of the ghosts, not even Danny, will survive."

They all look at each other and nod in agreement. Suddenly, the antidote bubbles slightly, emitting a spew of gas.

"Man, that antidote stuff sure stinks!" Jazz says, holding her nose.

"I think it smells delicious!" Jack comments.

Tucker gags and groans, "I don't want to even think about it!"

"But how will we know if it'll work?" Maddie moans.

"It has to work!" Both Sam and Jazz chime together.

"It** will work**!" Another voice says. It is Clockwork, who has regained consciousness again!

Everyone runs over to him, and he continues, "And I will be your first guinea pig!"

"Are you sure?" Jazz reluctantly asks.

Touched at her concern, he assures her, "Yes, my child, I am positive."

Maddie nervously puts the serum into a container to convert it to an aerosol. Then just as gingerly, she sprays the mist over Clockwork, who immediately coughs harshly on it. He then closes his eyes and wrinkles his nose at the smell.

"Sorry, the antidote does have a bad odor," Maddie comments.

In a moment, he opens his eyes and the others immediately know he is back to normal!

"Are you all right?" Jazz anxiously asks him.

He nods, smiling weakly.

"It worked!" Jack says in relief and in disbelief that something he helped make finally did, he exclaims, "It finally worked!"

Jazz sadly mutters, "Now, if only we could get this to Danny!"

And as if her will was strong enough to grant her wish, the Fenton portal is activated. The Infi-Map phases through and gently lands, still enveloping her brother.

"Danny!" They all scream in relief. But their relief is short-lived when they see that he is sallow and silent; and his skin is so pale that it is translucent with a hint of gray in it.

"Oh, no! No!" Sam gasps, as Jack quickly takes his son out of the Infi-Map, which immediately soars back through the portal. Then, Jack places Danny on a nearby table. Everyone is stunned when they realize that they may be too late.

"Quick, Maddie, the antidote!" Jack insists, holding his son's hand and keeping his emotions in check. His wife, shaking with emotion, dutifully responds and administers the antidote dose.

Everyone waits in anticipation, but the boy doesn't react at all.

Jack cannot believe it and still holding his son's hand, grabs the device and sprays another, larger, portion of the gas over him.

Again, there is no response.

Now in shock that it hasn't worked, each of them look at each other, and with dread realize that they need to say their goodbyes.

They slowly draw closer to the deathly quiet boy, each waiting for their turn to be near him.

His face skewed in anguish, Jack says nothing but stays at his son's side and continues to hold onto his limp hand.

Tears openly flowing, Maddie hugs her son and, then gently brushing and caressing his white hair, kisses him on the forehead, harshly whispering, "I love you."

Jazz follows behind her and is so choked with grief that she can only mouth, "I love you" while hugging and then kissing her brother on the cheek.

With Jazz standing at his side, Tucker hugs his best friend and unashamedly bawls.

And finally Sam approaches. Trying to be strong but betrayed by her wet, anguished eyes and ashen face, she reaches for Danny's other hand and nearly faints at the touch of both their cold hands. Tears silently now escaping her eyes, she kisses Danny tenderly and barely whispers, "I love you and will love you forever. Please wait for me on the other side."

Clockwork, who continues to be too weak to move, is the only one who doesn't approach the motionless teen. But as he watches the somber scene, he is so moved by the grief that he, too, sheds tears.

They all back away from Danny, except for his father, who cannot make himself let go of his son's hand. Jazz runs into her mother's arms and Sam into Tucker's. Bowing their heads, heartbroken and weeping openly, they don't want to move or leave him but know that they can do nothing.

After several minutes, Maddie, dreading to look up, finally utters, "Jack…."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx-

Suddenly, Jack chokes, "Look what's happening!" Wiping his tears quickly away, he draws back in awe as the others look up.

Through their tears they see two bluish-white rings appear at the teen's waist and slowly creep outward along his body. The rings also dissipate more slowly than usual and reveal the unconscious Danny Fenton. Not a moment later, his blue eyes flutter open and, groaning, and then coughing, he brings his hand to his forehead. Then he slowly rises up on his elbows.

Everyone is so astounded that they dare not rush him, and Clockwork merely smiles.

"Uh, my head!" He groans, raising one hand to it again. Then he suddenly coughs more violently this time. His head clearing, he adds, "I'm…I'm cured? But..." Quickly inspecting himself, he gasps at the memory, "I should be dead!... Am I dead?.." He anxiously checks himself again and cries, "No, I'm not!... And what _**is**_ that awful smell?"

He's startled by the sudden shriek of joyous laughter and looks toward it, his eyes widening with his own exclamation, "Jazz! Sam! Tucker! You're alive! Thank God you're _**alive**_!" He slumps back down and puts both of his hands to his face at the shock.

But this time, everyone but Clockwork instinctively rush to him and hug and kiss him with such a loving force that they lift him from the table and continue until Danny protests, "Please, everyone, I think I'm OK. I need to breathe!"

They quickly back away and his mother, still in shock, exclaims, "Yes, thank heavens! You need to breathe!" And then she buries her face in her husband's arms just as the others find themselves suddenly paralyzed by their overwhelming emotions.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx-

**A/N: I didn't have the heart after all to leave you hanging earlier in this chapter, but now I can! Until next weekend, y'all! See ya soon. t.**


	25. Chapter 25 Renewed Hope

**A/N: I really love this chap and really to the very end…So, here is Chapter 25 and "IDNOAC". …Enjoy**!

His Own Worst Enemy—Chapter 25—Renewed Hope

After several minutes of awkward but exuberant silence, as everyone wrestles with the overwhelming bombardment of several emotions—joy, love, anxiety, confusion, grief, shock, relief and anticipation—all at once, Clockwork, pulling himself up to a sitting position, is the first to speak. "I, for one, would like to thank you, your friends, and your family, Danny, for my cure."

But when Danny hears his friend's voice, the boy rushes over to him and excitedly says, "Clockwork! You're here? But, how did you get here? And, uh, then, how did **I** get here? ...Last time I saw you, uh, I…remember…" He gasps. "Ohmygosh, are you're all right? Were you hurt?...I'm so sorry, I really tried to prevent him…"

And suddenly, everything on Danny's mind pours out as he tries to piece everything together, "What was that stuff that made me so…evil? And what do you mean **you're** cured? Were you infected? But how? But you're still so old…Uh, no offense, but…And what exactly did you do to cure me? Did it cure you, too?"

As the others look on, totally dumbfounded by the barrage, Clockwork puts his hands up, gesturing for the boy to relax. "Calm down, calm down, my boy! A lot of things have happened and are going to happen. We need to sort everything out because we still have a lot of things to do."

Danny takes a deep breath but is not finished with saying his peace. "You're right. But I need to know everything…everything! I remember most of it, but it's also like I was in a haze and it was worse than a nightmare…more like being in a torture chamber. There was so much pain! I tried to fight it, but somehow, …I was…so…very…evil…. I should have fought it harder. I..I promised everyone that…but I failed! I shouldn't have given in... but I was too weak!...And I attacked all those ghosts for no reason except to destroy them and I thought I had killed my sister and my best friends and I didn't have it in me to prevent it all, and…"

This time Maddie and Jack, finally coming fully out of their shock, interrupt him. Gasping and turning to Jazz, they say, "What? You didn't tell us anything about that!"

Jazz blushes and answers, "Well, I was planning to…eventually!"

Still anguished, Danny continues, "All that evil within me allowed all that terrible stuff to happen, and I wouldn't blame everyone, especially you, Jazz, Sam and Tucker, for never forgiving me!"

The other teens immediately respond. "You're not evil!" Jazz protests.

"Yeah, dude, you're not like that and didn't do all that on purpose!" Tucker insists.

"Please don't torture yourself anymore! You are not evil!" Sam pleads. "We know you would never, ever have done anything like that without being forced to!"

But Danny is still not satisfied. "But I'm responsible for the destruction of the Ghost Zone and coming destruction of our world!" He puts his hand to his face, overwhelmed with the emotion.

Clockwork interrupts more forcibly this time. "Enough! I do not want to hear anymore of this! What happened was outside of your control, Danny! And please give us some credit! We all know you. We are certain that you fought hard against the infection with all your might. And we know that anything you did that was harmful to anyone was totally against your will. It is not in your nature to be that way, but it was from the effects of the poison the Dark Phantom inflicted on all us ghosts that you acted. **No** ghost could have escaped from anything that was commanded of them….yes, even doing the awful things they would never have normally done had they not been poisoned. It is a pity that you were so aware of it all, as any ghost would be under the poison's control."

The anguish in Danny's face, however, doesn't change.

Worried that he's still not getting through to the boy, Clockwork looks even more seriously at him and continues, "Danny, we know that you have a very strong desire to do the right thing, especially in your efforts to prevent any harm to anyone. And because you have the power to do it, you have a keen understanding of this tremendous responsibility. We are more aware of that than you know! So don't you think we realize that because of that enormous weight you most acutely suffered with your torment? We understand! But be assured that **no** ghost who has ever been infected with Black Shadow Decay has ever been able to fight it so gallantly and for as long as you!"

Danny is about to interrupt when he heard 'Black Shadow Decay', but Clockwork puts up his hand to silence him, and the Time Ghost continues, "So, do not be unfair to yourself, please. And as far as your being evil? Hardly! Where did you get such an idea?"

Danny lowers his eyes and head and mumbles, "From Phantom!"

"Phantom!" Clockwork huffs. "Danny, listen! To say your name and his in the same breath in all earnest gives me no pleasure! And believe me when I say that after all that has happened I know you are **nothing** like him! What a fool I was to have ever thought he might have learned from you, and realize how he was like you and maybe even change if he had understood how I pitied him! But you? **You are not evil**! So do not give him the power of infecting your soul with such a thought!"

Clockwork's words echo in the young teen's mind, finally dispelling his emotional turmoil and calming him. Taking a deep breath of relief, Danny—though puzzled by part of what Clockwork said— is able at last to focus on the state of the here-and-now and what needs to be done.

"Thank you!" He says softly. "But I need to know everything…everything that has happened since I was…infected. And what about that cure? And what exactly did you cure me of? What was that stuff that poisoned me?"

**Finally, **everyone else is able to fill him in on all the things that happened since they went to Clockwork's castle, including the ectoradium poisoning, Jazz, Sam and Tucker's experience at Skulker's Island, and making the cure for Black Shadow Decay.

As their story unfolded, Danny is more and more astonished, thankful and resolved as he learns what his family and friends went through and did for him since his first exposure to the ghost disease.

Trying to keep his emotions in check, he hugs them all again, and then reaches for Sam. They clasp their hands together gently but firmly and the warmth assures them both that they will never let go again. He leads her away from the others and checking that they are hidden from the others' view, he draws her closer to him until they are face-to-face.

He softly whispers to her, "Thanks for not giving up on me."

She quietly whispers back, "You know I never will." And they softly kiss.

As they slowly and gently pull away, Danny smiles and sighs. Finally collecting himself, Danny, with Sam still at his side, rejoins the others. He looks to his parents, and says, even with the lump in his throat, "Do you think we'll be able to cure the other ghosts?"

"I'd never thought I would ever say this, but, yes, we **can** cure them!" Jack says, and then continues, "Our analysis results of the serum indicate that we have enough of the raw materials—as the blood blossom derivative goes a mighty long way—to give the antidote to every ghost. We can start on it right away, right, Maddie?"

"Yes. Yes. We'll start right away," She slowly answers, still struggling with her emotions.

Then a thought hits Sam, "Do you think, then, that the other ghosts won't have amnesia after they're cured?"

"What?" Danny asks, perplexed.

Speaking to Danny, his mother answers, "I don't know. You, see, honey, the blood blossom's cure is known to cause amnesia in ghosts, but now that Sam mentions it, you and Clockwork don't seem to have any memory loss."

"Is that good?" Danny asks.

"Well, yes, but I don't know why you both don't have amnesia."

"I can tell you why," Clockwork answers.

They all look to him.

The old ghost continues, "You just told Danny that you used his own ghost blood to make the serum, remember? It was a perfect match for him, and his response to it was slow not because of any adverse reaction, but because he was so close to death." He pauses momentarily and then adds, "Besides, he has, I mean, he **is** a very unique ghost. His ice powers—and even his human side—helped to protect him during his cure and, by the way, also helped him resist the poison."

Clockwork stops and looks at Danny. The old ghost knows by the boy's reaction that Danny is struck by his choice of words.

And the Time Master lets a hint of a smile escape and then adds, "As for me, my stasis—that is, the fact that I can't morph like I usually do—slows the process. I hope that it stays slow enough to protect me from the amnesia. Most ghosts have an adverse reaction to the cure because of the blood blossom's nature to hurt ghosts. That is why, though cured, they get amnesia. But the good news is that eventually they will at least remember who they are."

His mouth opened in awe, Tucker asks, "How do you know all that?"

"He read the Book!" Sam concludes, and Clockwork smiles at her deduction.

"Well, that answers a lot for us," Maddie replies. "Now, we can get to work."

They all chip in and hurriedly get things ready...

Tucker calls the Deputy Mayor and alerts them of the impending threat. The town wastes no time in its own preparedness, including alerting other governments of the world; and they all look to the Fentons for guidance.

Finally, all the humans are as prepared as they can possibly be, and the Fentons stack up a load of weapons and contraptions, both big and small, that will deliver the antidote.

Maddie then announces, "We will need to equip the Specter Speeder. By the way, where is it, Jazz?"

"Well," Jazz hedges, "I was going to tell you…eventually."

But before Maddie can comment, the Fenton ghost alarm ballistically blasts.

"What is that?" Clockwork asks, alarmed.

Reading the monitor, Jack yells, "It's a massive ghost invasion!"

"Oh, no!" Danny gasps. "It's **him** and his army of ghosts! I have to stop them!"

"**We **have to stop them!" Everyone else echoes, reminding him that he is not alone.

Danny turns to them and sees that Jazz, Tucker and Sam are armed and ready.

"We have more than enough weapons!" Sam cries.

"And even more!" Tucker adds, patting both his weapon and PDA.

"And we won't go down without a fight!" Jazz declares.

Then both of his parents add, "And we'll attack with the antidote!"

Danny smiles and looking to floor in slight embarrassment, softly utters, "Did I ever tell you guys that I've never been so proud to be a part of this family—…" And looking back up at Tucker and Sam, corrects himself, "…-**our entire** family?"

They all smile back and Jazz speaks for them all. "We've always known that and feel the same about you. Now let's kick some butt!"


	26. Chapter 26  Anticipation

**A/N: I do not own thine characters forth with! (Sorry, also got tired of the "IDNOAC" thing). Now here is Chapter 26..Enjoy!**

His Own Worst Enemy—Chapter 26-Anticipation

"Well, then, let's not wait here to be cornered like rats!" Danny commands. "Let's get to a more defensible location…., But first: goin' ghost!" He cries as he returns to his alter ego.

Meanwhile, Jazz approaches the old man form of Clockwork and gently asks, "Are you sure you're going to be all right?"

"Yes, my child, I'm sure!" He assures her, taking and patting her hand lightly.

She smiles in embarrassment at his gesture, and then turns away and joins the others.

"Wait!" Maddie cries to the departing youths. "We have something else to give you!"

She quickly heads toward a nearby closet and retrieves three portable rocket boosters. Handing them to Jazz, Sam and Tucker, she says, "Actually, these will be better than the Specter Speeder."

Jazz hugs her mother and replies, "Thanks for understanding, Mom. You're the best!"

Her mother smiles weakly and responds, "And don't worry about us. We can take the Fenton Opt Center rocket jet to deliver the antidotes. And you four better have your own container of antidote gas, just in case."

She gives each of them a large canister and they put them into their backpacks. But before he puts his backpack on, Danny adds more supplies and then announces, "And we'll all need these, of course!" He picks up a nearby Fenton thermos, and adds, "I plan to make sure **he** will be put away for good!"

"And we can use them to reverse the polarity of any other portal that might materialize," Sam comments as Danny gives her and the others a thermos.

As they turn to go, Maddie runs up to Danny and grabbing his arm, pleads, "Honey, please be careful!"

He gives her a quick peck on the cheek and says, "I will, Mom, I promise!"

"And I know that you'll do your best and get through this," Jack adds with a worried smile.

Flying over to his father, Danny gives him a quick hug and replies, "Thanks, Dad! That means everything to me!"

Then soaring to the other three teens, he asks, "Are we ready?"

"Yes!" They say in unison, and then Jazz adds, "But will we be able to defeat **him**?"

"We **have **to!" Danny insists, resolved in his decision. "I know we'll find a way!"

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx- xxxxxxxxxxxxx-**

While all the other humans in town and across the world mass a defensive, Danny and his friends all jettison to the outside of Fenton Works. Mr. and Mrs. Fenton in turn help Clockwork to the Opt Center to prepare for their mission.

Bracing themselves, the teens hover in the air, anxiously waiting for the ghosts to explode out of the Fenton or any other portal that might materialize nearby. Other armed humans quickly join them in their watch.

Meanwhile, Mr. and Mrs. Fenton active the Opt Center rocket jet and stock it with hundreds of canisters and other antidote holders, including two powerful antidote blasters. They will be able to disperse the antidote to thousands of ghosts with each shot of the blaster.

Just as the Fentons are boarding the jet, Clockwork calls to them, "I'd like to go with you!"

"But are you strong enough?" Maddie asks, fretting for his health.

"I'm strong enough to know that I can't sit back and do nothing. I'll do whatever I can to help!" The Time Master replies.

The Fentons then help him into the jet and the Time Ghost mans one of the blasters. Off they soar, and then hovering the jet in the vicinity, get ready for the invasion.

Several more anxious minutes pass by and all the defenders can feel the tension creeping up their spines.

Nothing is happening.

"Where are they?" Tucker finally blurts out.

"I don't know!" Danny begins to answer, then gasps, "Oh, no! Plasmius' portal! They might be going through that one!"

"But we can't leave this one unguarded!" Sam exclaims.

"Then we'll have to split up!" Danny insists. "We have our Fenton ear phones, so if it gets to be too much, we can call each other for help!"

"OK!" they agree.

Danny looks around them and even though he can see more humans joining their force, he can't help but worry about the girls and adds, "Tucker and I can go to Plasmius' portal, but do you think you will be all right by yourselves?"

A voice behind the foursome answers them. "Oh, I wouldn't say they will be 'by themselves'."

They turn around and see that the voice belongs to Valerie, all ready for battle as the Red Ghost Huntress.

They all smile and Danny remarks, "Glad to have you on board!"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world!" She quips back, smiling.

"Well, you couldn't be any righter about that!" Jazz remarks, handling her one of the canisters containing the antidote.

Perplexed, Valerie asks, "What's this?"

"Just push that button and aim. You can use it as another weapon!" Jazz explains.

"Well, all right!" Valerie exclaims.

Danny flies to Sam and ask, "Will you be all right if we go?"

"I might ask you the same thing." She quips. "But we all have to do our part, so go. I'll be waiting for you!"

He gives her a quick kiss and says, "Glad you're on my side!"

She wryly replies, "Well, you know how charming I can be. Now, go!"

He swiftly flies back to Tucker and says, "I know a good short-cut!" He produces his wulf claws and opens a portal, and they both jump in.

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxx**-

Flying through the deserted Ghost Zone on the way to Plasmius' portal, and thinking again how good it was to have everyone helping them out, Danny's eyes widen with excitement. "Hey, Tuck, I have an idea! Let's make a quick stop at Clockwork's castle, OK?"

"OK!" Tucker says, bewildered, and then he yells in surprise when his friend suddenly grabs him and supersonics toward the castle.

As the castle rapidly looms ahead, Tucker nervously wonders at first if Danny will slow down enough to go through its entrance. But Danny doesn't slow down; instead, he makes them both intangible, and they soar right through the castle, finally slowing when they get to the main room.

Catching his breath, Tucker manages to blurt out, "Wow, sweet ride, Danny! It sure beats the Mad Monk's roller coaster at the water park!"

Danny smiles but doesn't answer as he grabs three time medallions off the rack and hands one to Tucker, and places another over his own neck. "Where are we going?" Tucker asks.

"We'll need all the help we can get if we're to defeat the ghosts and Phantom. I know of one person who can help us the most!"

They dive into the time portal, which is still set to where Phantom had left it. Materializing in the decimated alternate Amity Park, they search all around.

After several minutes of searching, Tucker, exasperated, finally asks, "Who are we looking for?"

A large red laser beam blasting a hole nearby answers him.

"Finally!" Danny yells triumphantly.

"Finally?" Tucker yells fretfully.

Another blast barely misses them and then a grenade is thrown right between them. Instantly grabbing his friend and throwing him behind him, Danny creates a large ectoplasmic ball of energy that protects both of them from the blast.

Danny strains to see through the clearing smoke, and shouts, "Valerie!"

Seeing only Danny, the future Valerie does not stop in her attack, but Danny quickly produces a shield that repels the ray she shot at them, keeping the boys safe again, but blasting a hole near Valerie when the ray is refracted back at her. She screams at being thrown off balance but quickly recovers, and soars closer to the attacking ghost.

This time Tucker, who now has figured out Danny's plan, steps from behind Danny and yells, "Valerie, wait!"

But when she hears **his** voice, she does stop.

"Tucker?" She gasps when she sees him. "I thought you were just a dream the last time I saw you!"

"Well, I'm very real and we need your help!"

"What?" She asks, bewildered, but keeps her gun aimed at Danny.

Hoping to explain the situation, Danny steps forward, but she raises her gun higher. Tucker then boldly moves in front of his friend and tells her, "**This** Danny is not the one you should be after! The putrid-other-timeline-alternate-older Phantom is in our world ten years in the past, trying to conquer it then. If he succeeds, your world, ten years later, will be even worse!"

Frowning with agitation, she forcefully answers, "Look all around you! Can't you see that nothing has changed? How do you know that he hasn't all ready succeeded? We aren't any better now, and it's all because of **him**!" She races around Tucker and cocks her gun, ready to fire at Danny.

"No!" Tucker screams, positioning himself fully between them again. "Please! Do you think I would risk coming here if I thought **this** Danny was the bad guy? We want to stop the **real** bad guy!"

She is still unconvinced. "But Phantom has played being 'little' Danny before."

"'_Little?'_" Danny thinks, standing more erect. But he dare not say a thing.

She continues, "How do I know that he's not doing the same thing now and just using you?" She narrows her eyes and stares down the ghost boy, who can't help but squirm a bit. "I can just **see all that** **evil** under that façade of innocence! Why can't **you**, Tucker?"

Tucker now grows uncharacteristically irritated with her stubbornness and angry at her insults to his friend. Marching right up to her, placing himself right in front of her gun, and staring her right in the eye, he firmly says, "Look, Valerie. You're talking about my best friend! Someone whom I trust my life with! He has never let me down and I know he never will! He and I both risked everything coming here. But he took the greater risk because of you! And knowing that, he still came, because it's the right thing to do! So, I will not stand for your calling him evil, do you hear? If anything is evil here, it's that you don't want to help us!" He is so shaken by his boldness that he can barely catch his breath afterward.

She finally lowers her gun but not her guard. She has seen too much sorrow in her world. "I'm tired of this whole thing! If Phantom's there, in your time, he won't be bothering us! So you both need to go and just leave us alone!"

No longer willing to be quiet, Danny darts around Tucker and pleads, "But I can't defeat him alone! I—we—need your help!"

She lifts the gun again, charging it up.

The ghost boy doesn't defend himself but pleads again, "If you won't help, then I will still try. But I want you to know that if I fail, it wasn't because I didn't try with all my might, even if it meant my own destruction."

All three stand looking at each other in silence—Valerie in suspicious doubt and the boys in earnest hope. And then she replies, "I hope all you ghosts just destroy yourselves!"

Tucker verbally charges back at her, "The way it's going now, you'll not only get your wish but both of our worlds will be destroyed! Let that be on your conscience!"

Again, they look at each other in silence. But this time, it's in sadness for all three. Valerie can't make herself do it and the boys know it.

Then Danny answers him. "C'mon, Tuck. We've wasted too much time as it is." But turning back to Valerie, he adds, "But if you change your mind…" He lays the time medallion at her feet.

Then, checking to coordinate with Tucker, Danny nods and they both yank off their time medallions at the same time, and phase back to their time, leaving a bitter older Valerie behind.


	27. Chapter 27 The Assault Begins

**A/N: OHMIGOSH--Part 3!! A big THANKS to everyone!! ALL my stories have now had at least 1000 hits!!! YEAH!! But of course, this story has the most (over 4000) and for that, I also say a BIG THANKS!! Y'all are TERRIFIC!!!! Now, back to the "IDNOAC". And back to Chapter 27. Enjoy!**

His Own Worst Enemy—Chapter 27—The Assault Begins

The two friends soar away from Clockwork's castle at super speed, steering toward their original designation, which is, of course, Plasmius' portal. After several minutes of disheartened silence, Danny utters, "I'm sorry, Tucker. We shouldn't have tried."

With disappointment in his voice, his friend quietly replies, "That's all right, dude. There will be some other way to defeat him!"

"I hope you're right," Danny says, unconvinced, and then, choking a little on his emotions, he quietly adds, "But just so you know, I'm glad I'm on your side. I couldn't have asked for a better or braver best friend…or brother."

"Thanks, Danny. You know that's ditto for me!" Tucker replies with a weak smile. He pauses briefly, and swallows his emotions over his friend's comment. But then he somberly adds, "It's just that I expected so much from Valerie. I mean, she's so different in our time."

And knowing his friend—and even himself-- need to hear it, Danny tries to cheer him, "Yeah, I know, Tuck. But we still have a chance, so we can't give up hope."

Still not quite satisfied, and still speaking with sadness, Tucker replies, "Yeah, you're right. That's the only thing left…." He pauses again, remembering everything that has happened. Suddenly, the spark sets in; and getting a little more determined at that thought, he adds, "So, then, we better hurry... No matter what happens, we have to stop him!"

They fly on silently and after only a few more minutes, Tucker yells, "Look! There's the portal…and there are lots more of them opening up near it!"

They stop abruptly, aghast at the sheer number of poisoned ghosts entering the portals.

"I sure hope your parents have enough of the antidote!" Tucker gulps.

"Me, too, but if we can stop the leader, then they all might be confused long enough for us to get the cure to them!" Danny remarks.

They look at each other for encouragement and then Danny asks, "Are you ready?"

"As ever as I will be!" Tucker replies, swallowing hard.

"Remember, call me if you need help!" Danny reminds him.

"You do the same, dude!" Tucker says, turning on his rocket booster.

"OK, let's go!" Danny commands.

They separate and together they begin the task of attacking the ghosts. Many of the ghosts blindly counterattack, but Danny and Tucker are able to easily out-maneuver them and administer the antidote. Once cured, those ghosts are just as easily frightened back into the Ghost Zone.

The boys also work at closing the portals: Tucker with his PDA commands and Danny with the Fenton thermos' ability to reverse the polarity of the portals.

But when the masses of ghosts finally notice Danny and Tucker's assault, they turn away from the portals and renew their charge. Fortunately for the teens, however, the ghosts' method of attack is haphazard at best. They fight with no guidance or plan. But then again, as the boys quickly find, whatever lack in direction the ghosts may have is made up in their numbers. And their sheer force is enough to make the fight tough on the two young defenders.

But Danny fights dauntingly and doesn't hesitate to use all his powers on them in order to subdue them and administer the antidote to them. His determination and reflexive actions keep the ghosts off balance. They know he has become an impressive foe to all of them.

And through it all, Tucker also presses on. With some of the commands he recently discovered on his PDA, he doesn't hesitate to activate such unique defenses as thrusting a blinding light at the ghosts. These features, along with his quick actions, give the boy the advantage in confusing the attacking ghosts and proving to them that this young human is as formidable a defender as his superhero friend.

Together, the teens are quite a force in of themselves, and they relentlessly fire with weapons, powers and antidote to beat back their attackers.

But, still, the ghosts unwillingly counterattack, helpless in resisting the compelling command to attack and destroy. They do not give up easily and they press back at the boys. The teens can only hope they can hold on until help arrives—if it does at all.

"There are so many of them!" Tucker yells to Danny through the Fenton phones, still blasting and spraying.

"Let's just hope that everyone else is having better luck!" Danny calls back as he fights on.

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Meanwhile, the human defense team, armed both with the antidote and anti-ghost weapons, is making some headway at the Fenton portal. But many ghosts still escape through countless of additional portals that unexpectedly materialize, keeping the humans busy.

Sam, Jazz and other volunteers doggedly close any portal they come to, and Valerie successfully defends the brave souls who get close enough to spray the ghosts with the cure or try to attack them with force. And the Fentons and Clockwork do their part and blast the antidote from the Opt Center jet, filling the air with the dull green mist.

Confused and suffering from amnesia, many ghosts flee back to the Ghost Zone after their cure. But still others escape the gas and continue to charge out of the main and other portals that are now opening up throughout the world.

Knowing that they cannot concentrate all their efforts here, Maddie calls to the others over a loud speaker. "Clockwork says we should try to counter them from the Ghost Zone side! Keep fighting here!"

"OK, Mom! And please make sure you get to Skulker's island to cure him!" Jazz calls back.

Looking to Clockwork for guidance and seeing him smile and nod, her mother calls back, "No problem! We'll be back as soon as we can!" They immediately soar away.

"OK, see ya!" Her daughter calls after them, but they do not hear her. And because she's pleased to know that Skulker will be healed, she is caught off guard and doesn't see an attacking ghost. Before she can react, she is grabbed by strong, hostile hands.

"Jazz!" Sam yells. She successfully shoots the two ghosts in her way and soars toward her friend. But she is blocked by even more ghost reinforcements. "Valerie! Help! They got Jazz!" She screams as she shoots at those ghosts in her way.

But Valerie is just as—if not more—busy with the fighting and yells back, "I…can't….get ..to her now!" She screams in both frustration and determination, fearing the worse for Jazz.

Both girls now struggle more desperately to try to rescue Jazz; and the older teenage girl also fights frantically against her attacker, kicking, screaming and shooting as she tries to free herself. But her foe is stronger than she thinks and her efforts are in vain.

And because of even more heavy fighting, neither Sam nor Valerie can come to their friend's aid and Jazz is whisked away.

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In the meantime, the frontline of the ghost army leaving through the Plasmius portal makes strong headway, as the human force, which has been severely delayed by attacks coming from the prolific amount of new portals, has not yet reached the Real World side of Plasmius' portal...

Even so, Danny and Tucker are having success at the rear of this arm of Dark Phantom's poisoned ghost army still inside the Ghost Zone.

Finally, after much fighting, Danny and Tucker near the entrance of the portal.

Just then, blasts of a dull and pungent green mist shower around the teens as the Fentons and Clockwork finally arrive behind them, having reached the portal through Clockwork's guidance.

"Looks like everything's taken care of here!" Danny tells Tucker through the Fenton phones. He waves in thanks at his parents and Clockwork. "Let's get to the Real World, now!"

Tucker barely has time turn off his booster and **no** time to answer before his hybrid friend grabs him, makes them both intangible, and supersonics through the portal, leaving the Fentons and Clockwork to finish their job.

As they race to catch-up to the frontline, the day draws to an end, and Tucker laments, "It won't be long before I won't be able to see the ghosts anymore. It's getting dark!"

"Well, at least I'll be able to see--and **feel**-- them, but we'll do what we can!" Danny encourages him.

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Back at the Fenton Portal, and even in the midst of the fighting, the ghost force coming through the portal is slowly and inexplicably dissipating.

Hovering near Fenton Works and still firing, Valerie tries to encourage everyone to continue in their defense. "There are less ghosts! We're winning!"

Suddenly, her hover board is jolted by a red ectoplasmic ray, which sends her spiraling out of control toward the ground.

"Valerie! No!" Sam screams, witnessing the attack. But this time, she has a chance to act. She soars toward Valerie and grabs the huntress just before she crashes.

"Thanks, but look out!" Valerie shrieks and they both dash away just in time as the ground near them is blasted away.

They scan toward the direction from which the beam came and see a sneering Dan Phantom.

"So, the gnats have somehow survived after all, and just long enough for me to personally swat them!" He yells.

He fires again, but Sam's rocket and Valerie's hover board are too quick and he misses.

"Just as well! I've always enjoyed target shooting!" He shouts as he fires at them. But he misses again.

Grunting with frustration, he commands the other ghosts behind him, "Attack!"

And they obey.

Sam and Valerie scream and flee from the charging controlled ghosts; and as they bolt away, they can hear the echo of the wicked leader's overconfident and evil laugh chasing after them, too.

All of a sudden, a new swarm of ghosts exit the Fenton portal, and Sam and Valerie are caught between both sides of the Dark Phantom's now joined army. The girls separate and fire as they go.

Then another ghost zaps the ghost huntress' hover board; and it careens out of control. But Valerie, who's too busy looking back and shooting at her pursuers, doesn't attempt to slow down and doesn't see the building that is quickly zooming toward her. When she finally does turn to see where she's headed, she screams in dread….

The Phantom now concentrates his efforts on Sam, and this time, he hits her rocket booster and she unwillingly slows down.

"Oh, no!" She frets but instinctively turns around and fires at her attacker.

The evil ghost merely bats her efforts away and easily catches up with her. He quickly grabs her and pins her arms to her side; but, somehow, she still is able to keep a grip on her weapon.

"Ow!" She yells in pain at the force of his hold and with her struggle to break free.

Then pulling her very close to him so that they are now face-to-face, he taunts, "And to think, I once had feelings for you!"

"Don't you _**ever**_ insult me like that again! And don't you _**dare**_ compare yourself with him! _**You are not Danny!**_" She growls back, managing to right her weapon enough to fire point blank at him. The impact sends them both a few hundred feet away from each other, but Sam is knocked unconscious by the blow and she floats helplessly as her weapon falls to the ground below.

Phantom, however, is only momentarily stunned and he laughs with evil intent as he charges at his defenseless victim…


	28. Chapter 28 In the Thick of It

**A/N: "IDNOAC". …Here is Chapter 28. Enjoy**.

His Own Worst Enemy—Chapter 28—In the Thick of It

Meanwhile, Danny and Tucker, still intangible and still at super speed, finally catch up with the front of Dan Phantom's army. Just as they slow to scan the area ahead, they witness Sam and Valerie's dilemma.

"Oh, no!" gasps Danny.

"Let's go!" Tucker commands, activating his rocket booster as they rematerialize. They separate again, with Danny headed toward Sam and Tucker toward Valerie.

Just as Valerie is about to careen into the building, she hears Tucker scream, "Hang on, Valerie!"

She responds by shrieking even louder.

Tucker desperately punches on his PDA and just at the moment of impact, he successfully creates a portal, which Valerie easily passes through.

"Huh?" She utters, looking around and seeing that she is now floating in the Ghost Zone. Not a moment later, another portal appears and she instinctively enters it and finds herself only a few feet of where the other portal had been.

By that time, Tucker has caught up with her and frantically asks, "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, thanks to you!" She says. "Now, let's get back to the fighting!"

At the same time, fifteen-year-old Danny charges toward Sam's rescue. Racing at supersonic speed and incensed at the older Phantom's intentions, he concentrates all his efforts and thrusts a large and forceful ectoplasmic energy beam from both of his hands, which hits the evil ghost from the side. The jolt is so strong that his nemesis is repelled several hundred feet away from Sam.

"_No time to lose!"_ The teen urges himself as he supersonics to Sam, grabs her, makes them both intangible, and races to the ground. He quickly removes and turns off the sputtering rocket booster and lays her gently on the ground. Then he immediately soars upward, searching for the Dark Phantom's return.

Suddenly, the boy's ghost sense goes off, but its warning is too late and he is hit on his left side.

"OW!" He screams, but quickly heads **toward** the direction from where the blast came. Finally, he sees his foe ahead, who fires again. Without stopping, the teen energizes an ectoplasmic green shield in front of him. But the impact of the red beam shatters it and jerks the boy backward and knocks off his Fenton phones.

Breathing heavily but unharmed, the teenager backtracks slightly to give him time to take off his backpack and retrieve the ghost gauntlets.

"Well, here goes everything!" He says, rallying himself, as he veers sharply back toward Phantom.

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In the meantime, the Fentons, satisfied that they have done all they can for now, including curing Skulker and other ghosts they found on the way—including the inhabitants of the prison-- return from the Ghost Zone via the Fenton portal. As they leave the portal, they push a button and part of the side of their home opens, allowing them and the jet to leave the building.

Once outside, Clockwork catches a glimpse in the distance of Jazz's struggle with the fleeing ghost in the darkening sky. Though the girl's arms are pinned to her sides, she continues to shoot wildly, hitting a lot of other ghosts in the area, but missing the one who has her in its clutches. Kicking, shooting and screaming, Jazz will not give up, and the ghost, who has not been able to control his flight since he first grabbed the girl because of her intense struggle, is beginning to lose his grip on her.

"Look! Up there!" Clockwork calls to the Fentons as he points to where he wants them to look.

"Jazz!" Maddie gasps; and Jack turns the jet sharply to the right in hot pursuit.

As they draw nearer, Jack quickly maneuvers the jet to avoid the blasts from Jazz's gun and because of the rough flight, Clockwork is tossed about in the back.

"Sorry!" Jack says when Clockwork is unexpectedly thrown between the couple.

"That's OK, just get that ghost!" Clockwork commands.

Finally, the jet is in range and Clockwork rushes to and aims one of the outside weapons and quickly shoots the ghost with a spray of the antidote. The ghost instantly reacts, coughing violently, and then drops Jazz in the process. Stunned with the cure, the ghost screams with its sudden amnesia and runs away from the scene.

Jazz, whose rocket booster has been on the whole time, quickly recovers and flies up to the jet and says through her Fenton phones, "Thanks, Mom! Can I get a ride?"

Her parents obligingly open a hatch and Jazz flies in. Maddie runs up to her and hugging her, asks, "Are you OK?"

"Yes, a little bruised, and especially with my bruised pride, but I'm OK, thanks to you!"

Her mother answers, "You can thank Clockwork. He spotted you and shot that ghost!"

"How can I ever thank you?" She softly asks the Time Ghost.

"By getting back into battle! We don't have much time! Let's go!" He commands, and the jet charges back to the melee near Fenton Works.

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As the moonless night seizes the city, the human defenders know that this will not help them in their battle. Dishearten that the night will give the advantage to the ghosts, the humans are again pushed back by the combined forces of the ghost army.

Tucker and Valerie continue to lead the assault and soon Jazz, Clockwork, and the Fentons join them.

Quickly exiting the jet, Jazz, who immediately fires her weapon as she goes, meets up with the other two teens. "Where are Danny and Sam?" She yells, still firing at any attacking ghost.

Not hesitating as he continues to fight, Tucker yells back, "We don't know! Danny went to save Sam from that putrid evil future Phantom and we got separated!"

"Oh, no!" Jazz gasps, fearing the worse.

At that moment, the group gets some reprieve as the mist fired by the Fentons finally cures the ghosts around them. The amnesiac ghosts immediately run away in fear.

But all of a sudden, in the light of one of the streetlights, Tucker sees a small group of teenage girls below, screaming as they are attacked by a large group of ghosts. "C'mon, Valerie!" He commands and they rush downward with their weapons blazing.

Having vanquished the ghosts, the girls sigh, "Ah, Tucker!" to their rescuer as he soars past them and regroups with the other defenders.

But for all their gallant efforts, the remaining ghost army begins to turn the tide.

"This is awful!" Jazz cries, firing, but this time, missing another ghost. "This is too easy for them! We can't see them in all these shadows and with all the city lights giving our positions away, we're sitting ducks!"

"Lights!" Tucker exclaims, unconsciously lowing his weapon to grab his PDA. But this was not a good choice and a ghost immediately sets its sights on him. Just before the ghost can attack, however, Valerie disables it and douses it with the antidote mist.

"Thanks, Val!" He says and feverishly punches on his PDA. Thank goodness he remembered this program!! It was the first one he discovered when he first got the futuristic device from Skultech. Within moments, the entire city's electricity is knocked out, plunging everyone into total darkness.

And just as sudden, there's an eerie silence, as both attackers and defenders are momentarily blinded from the other. But then, the ghosts, delighted with the development, counterattack. Many humans retreat under the ghosts' assault, but the Fentons press on. They can easily detect where the ghosts are with their specialized ghost gadgets and continue with administering the antidote.

Tucker, Jazz and Valerie hover in the pitch-black sky, hoping that they won't be detected by any of the ghosts. But then, a cool, strong-smelling mist envelops them and the entire area. They are safe for now! But they wonder for how long.


	29. Chapter 29 Heated Encounter

**A/N: Now back to the story…And it's here again!! That…that…"IDNOAC"!!! Oh, well. …Here is Chapter 29. Enjoy**.

His Own Worst Enemy—Chapter 29—Heated Encounter

Meanwhile, Sam finally regains consciousness and immediately brings her hand up to her head. "Oww!" She groans. Then blinking and seeing nothing, she adds, "Am I awake or still out? Why is it so dark?...And how did I get **here**?"

But then she glimpses the bright red and green beams that are drowning out the faint stars above. Immediately recognizing the sound, she gasps, "Danny!" She gropes in the dark and finds her rocket booster and instantly straps it on. Blinding searching again, she frantically mumbles, "Now, where is it?" But she cannot find her weapon. She then reaches into one of her boots and remarks, "At least I didn't forget this one!" In an instant she retrieves her wrist ray gun and straps it on. She turns on the booster and soars upward—very slowly, of course—ready to help Danny.

Suddenly in the darkness she hears a voice over her Fenton phones. "Kids! It's Mrs. Fenton. We have an idea! All of the ghosts here at the moment are cured, but we're going to rig up a device to administer the antidote right at the main portals. We'll be back soon, so go help Danny!"

Before Sam can progress any further, however, a ghost charges at her from a new small portal that has just unexpectedly formed. She quickly avoids him, but he shoots an energy ray at her. The ghost successfully hits her booster, and she moves even slower. But she fires back as the ghost charges again. She cannot help Danny now.

In the meantime, Tucker, who has also heard the Fentons' announcement on his Fenton phones, takes this as his cue and he pushes a button on his PDA. The entire city lights flash on, blinding everyone, including the two Phantoms, who are in the midst of their fight. But the friends cannot immediately come to Danny's aid yet due to more fighting that needs to be done at the portal.

The younger Phantom is the first to recover from the light and shoots his ice rays at the older one, who is momentarily frozen but then immediately uses his eye rays to melt the ice enough for him to burst out.

Soaring closer, and finally near enough so they can hear each other, the Dark Phantom jeers, "I curse myself for not making sure your extermination was successful! I don't know how you were cured, but it doesn't matter, because this time, I'm not going to stop until I have your lifeless body in my hands!"

"Well, I'm not going to make that easy for you, old man!" Danny spits back, firing again through the ghost gauntlets.

But Dan Phantom produces a shield that keeps him from harm and then he immediately duplicates himself into four Phantoms.

"_Oh, man!"_ Danny thinks and reflexively freezes two of the four, but the other two evil ghosts retaliate with four rays, striking him from two sides. The boy screams in intense pain but musters up his ghostly wail and repels those two attacking Phantoms, sending them several hundred feet away.

Then all of the sudden, the other two frozen duplicates power up their eye rays, melting themselves, and then quickly renew their attack. The teenager again yells with the painful blow of their combined strength; and panting heavily, he knows he can't hold out much longer. But the young hybrid presses on, out-maneuvering and then counterattacking them with ice spikes.

Finally destroying one, he concentrates on the remaining one, but then in the distance he sees the other two Phantoms charging back. _'Now, what, Fenton?'_ He demands, thinking. _'Of course he's going to try to get me in a crossfire… That's it!'_

He soars past the foe he's currently fighting and heads directly toward the other two Phantoms. But at the last second, he pours on his super speed and moves in and out and between them, confusing their aim until they crossfire each other right out of existence.

"_Now for the last one!"_ Danny thinks but then he's hit hard from behind. Momentarily stunned, he screams to himself, _'Move, Fenton, move, before he gets too close!"_

The teen can hear that same echoing evil laugh of triumph approaching him, the one he heard just before he had passed out the first time he was infected with the ectoradiation poisoning. Before the youth can move, he is engulfed in the same lethal dose of the black shadow decay that almost killed him. But to his relief, the boy doesn't have any reaction at all to the poison.

"What?" The Dark Phantom cries in disbelief.

Now partially recovered, this is Danny's chance. He charges at the older ghost and pummels him with the ghost gauntlets. Increasing his speed, the youth continues with his blows, finally knocking the older ghost off balance.

But Phantom rebounds and cries, "You cannot defeat me, remember? I have the time staff!" And he grabs the younger ghost by his boot just as the boy has double-backed for another attack. Easily pulling the boy down, the older ghost yanks off one of his gauntlets and lets it fall to the ground. But Danny instantly swipes him with a blow from the other gauntlet. And just as quickly, his nemesis melts the gauntlet with his eye beams.

"Ow!" Danny yells at the burning pain in his hand, but immediately yells, "I won't let you hurt anyone else!" He immediately produces his wulf claws and takes a swipe at the Dark Phantom. He makes contact and the older ghost yells in pain and lets go of the boy. Now free, the younger Danny soars upward, turns sharply around, and doesn't hesitate to strike with his ice beams.

Instantly producing a shield, which is then frozen and shattered, Dan Phantom jeers, "Always the hero! But you cannot win! Your pathetic little effort now will hardly be remembered when I'm through with you! Instead, I will make sure that everyone will think of you as the more evil one of the two of us because you were responsible for creating me!"

"Aaarghh!" Danny screams, losing his concentration and yielding to his anger.

Dan Phantom fires point blank at the charging youth, using both his eye and hand beams, riveting the boy backward as the rays engulf and electrocute his body.

Now incapacitated, his breathing hard from the intense pain, the boy crashes roughly to the ground. Groaning, and feeling his strength rapidly failing, the teen struggles to pull himself up; just as his worst enemy swoops down and aims with his final blow.

As he charges up a powerful, and most certainly, lethal ray, the future Phantom sneers, "You certainly haven't made it easy for me, boy! But this time, you'll finally yield to me, and it's with your life! So it's not only a good riddance to you, Danny Phantom, but sweet revenge! How delicious it is to give you your last burning conscious thought: and that is of my throwing your crushed body into the Ghost Zone where it can rot with all the other worthless ghosts!"

But all of the sudden, before the older Phantom can discharge his own powerful ray at the boy, he is hit from his right by a huge blast, which repels him several hundred feet away from the younger one.

But it is not his friends, who are still in battle, who have come to the boy's rescue. His blurry vision clearing, Danny looks in disbelief as the Valerie from the future, with a time medallion swinging from her neck, soars up to the fifteen-year-old and asks, "Are you all right?"

"Uh, yeah, I think so, thanks," He replies, bewildered.

Her face etched with determination, she scans the area, and then tells the boy, "I'm just here to get the 'Big Kahuna'."

"OK, then. I don't know if I should be relieved or insulted," Danny retorts, just as Valerie frowns in confusion at his comment. But before she can reply, red beams fire all around them.

Danny and the older Valerie instinctively fire back just as Phantom again duplicates himself into four and prepares to assault them with his ghostly wail. But he doesn't get the chance, because this time all four of the duplicates are suddenly attacked all at once, for now the other teens are finally able to come to help.

Together, Danny, the older Valerie, Sam, Tucker, Jazz and the fifteen-year-old Valerie all pour their concentrated power on the duplicates. One-by-one, three of the ghosts are defeated and then the human defenders all take aim at the last--and original--one.


	30. Chapter 30 A Decisive Duration

**A/N: And this chapter is **_**one **_**answer to all the talk that no story can exist after "Phantom Planet". I was not completely satisfied with that episode, even though I **_**loved **_**it! And so, here's my answer for future story possibilities (even though there are some great stories out there that work in spite of my changes) , and this is still my next-to-the-last favorite chap… And "I still DNOAC"... Now here is Chapter 30. Enjoy!!**

His Own Worst Enemy—Chapter 30—A Decisive Duration

Dan Phantom doesn't hesitate and charges at them. He moves swiftly and is at first successful in his efforts.

He quickly energizes a shield to repel Sam and Tucker's beams while firing with his eyes and other hand to counter the others. Fortunately, most of his blows are ineffective as Danny and both Valeries easily materialize shields to protect themselves and the others. Their shields also effectively refract the rays back at their foe, forcing him to maintain his own shield as well. This, and the fact that all the defenders counterattack right away, keeps the dark Phantom busy...

But suddenly, the older Phantom changes his tactic. Seeing that his foes are too close to each other, he takes advantage of this and swiftly moves among them, easily firing at them. They, in turn, are forced to concentrate on either avoiding a hit or trying to make a shot. But most of the time, returning a volley at the future ghost is not possible. Each of the defenders—who constantly find themselves in the line of fire from foe **or** friend-- fears hitting the others just as Phantom moves quickly away.

The evil ghost's plan, of course, is good strategy until Danny finally sees his chance and throws a huge ball of energy at the evil ghost, which engulfs him. Knowing that the energy field will only hold the older Phantom and block his hearing for a very brief moment, the young hybrid quickly commands, "Quick, everyone, spread out and form a circle around him. Then keep him in the middle of that circle. Both Valeries and I will rotate the shields in front of you when he fires at you until we defeat him!"

No sooner does he say this than the Dark Phantom begins to muster up his ghostly wail, which will not only shatter the energy field, but will undoubtedly blast his attackers away. But Danny doesn't wait for that and actually **finishes** the task for his nemesis. The force of the boy's immense ectoplasmic rays thrusting from both of his hands not only destroys the bubble but also delivers a sharp jolt to the older ghost, and Danny cries, "NOW!"

Instantly, his friends move to attack position and focus all their power on the dark Phantom. And though the evil ghost still fights on, Danny and both Valeries successfully coordinate the rotating shields and give the others--and themselves--a chance to fire back. It soon becomes clear that the defenders' tactic proves powerfully effective. And then, after a fierce battle--when Dan Phantom nearly breaks their circle--the evil ghost is finally beaten down.

Panting heavily and lifting one of his hands in surrender, the older Phantom utters, "I give up! You win!"

The defenders momentarily lower their guard, but not Danny. He knows Phantom too well. This is his chance. He charges the dark one at super speed, materializes his wulf claws, and with all his might, plunges them into the older ghost and yanks the Time Staff out of him. But before the boy can soar away, his foe also grabs the staff and wrestles the teen for it.

As they both struggle for control of the staff, it instantly begins to glow and vibrate, encasing both of the Phantoms in a bright ball of light that intensifies and emits powerful beams from all the colors of the rainbow.

Still grappling for control, Danny yells, "What's happening?!"

The Phantom answers with a violent jerk, trying to fling the boy off.

But Danny hangs on.

Phantom then tries to fire his eye beams at Danny and the boy instantly counters them with is own cold eye beams. The force of the impact causes the older Phantom to momentarily lose control and he stops his attack and clings more forcefully on the staff. He will not try that again for now.

--

Meanwhile, the Fentons and Clockwork have returned from installing the devices that will douse any ghost going through the main portals with the antidote. They quickly search for the others and cannot miss the spectacle in the sky that is obviously before them. The fifteen-year-old Valerie sees them from afar and races to meet them.

"Oh, no!" Clockwork gasps as the ship nears the scene.

Just as an alarm sounds on the jet's panel, Jack turns to Clockwork and cries, "What's wrong?!"

Clockwork anxiously explains, "Time! They're altering time! They are from two time periods, two different dimensions! And they're both touching the staff at the same time! If one of them doesn't let go soon, they'll destroy all of time!"

"Our sensors have also detected more ghosts' heading this way!" Maddie says. "Take one of those rocket boosters, Clockwork, and try to help Danny! We have to go after those ghosts!"

She quickly helps Clockwork into one of the boosters, opens the hatch, and he flies out, just as the younger Valerie flies in.

"My instruments are still going crazy! There must be other ghosts headed this way!" She informs the Fentons.

"Yes, we know! Do you need a ride?" Maddie asks.

Smiling with eagerness, the ghost huntress answers, "You, bet! Let's go!"

But suddenly, the jet is hit hard and is immobilized. The force is enough to knock the Fentons out; but Valerie's battle suit protects her and she is unaffected. She quickly checks the couple and is relieved that they're not injured. But then, she gasps as she spies the small band of ghosts that attacked the jet heading toward the feuding Phantoms.

"Oh, no, you don't!" She vows and shoots out of the jet, blaring her guns.

Surprised at this new attack, the group of ghosts veers away from the scene with Valerie in hot pursuit. She now is so intent on getting the fleeing ghosts that she soars so far away from the rest of the group that she cannot see what is happening.

Meanwhile, shocked into consciousness by an ear-piercing alarm, the Fentons recover, only to get more bad news.

"Oh, no, Jack! The main engine has been damaged and is about to explode! Quick, let's put on our boosters!" Maddie screams as she throws one of the rockets to him.

She quickly puts hers on and they immediately soar out of the jet and toward the others just as the jet disintegrates.

The force from the explosion rivets them and the entire group nearby like a giant ocean wave, but no one is harmed. And except for a moment when Danny loses one of his hands' grip on the staff from the impact of the force, the Phantoms do not stray from their struggle.

And just as the adult Fentons join them, Jazz, Sam, Tucker, Clockwork, and the older Valerie gasp and look on helplessly when Danny nearly loses his control over the staff.

Slightly relieved when Danny quickly recovers from the jolt, Tucker screams, "What can we do?"

"I don't know!" Sam yells back.

Suddenly, the ball of energy created by the staff enlarges and encases all of them while still emanating bright multi-color beams of energy. The two Phantoms ignore this development but all the others—Clockwork, the Fentons, Jazz, Sam, Tucker and the future Valerie-- are astounded by it.

"We must do something!" Clockwork cries.

Then just as sudden, the older Phantom lets go of the staff with one hand and pulls out the weapon containing the Black Shadow Decay and pushes a button to overload its power.

"Now, you'll never escape the fatal dose!" He hisses, holding the weapon close to Danny but between himself and the glowing staff.

But this time, the future Valerie reacts.

"Oh, no you don't!" She yells, and taking out a small weapon, she fires precisely at the older Phantom, propelling him back with such force, that his hand is ripped from the staff. He is then jettisoned far enough away that when the weapon containing the Black Shadow Decay detonates, it administers the fatal dose only to the now vulnerable Dan Phantom, who then drifts helplessly away.

The ball of light energy encasing the others is suddenly suck into the staff, just before it loudly bursts outward from it, like a supernova, and penetrates those within. All but Clockwork scream as it finally dispels, momentarily blinding everyone, except the senseless older Phantom.

"Is everyone all right?" Clockwork softly asks; and still shaken, they all nod.

Now seeing his friend, Danny immediately flies over to him and surrenders the Time Staff to the Time Master.

Suddenly, a glow forms around Clockwork and he is energized. Then, another, but much smaller, ball of light encases him; and then after a few moments, it, too, supernovas, disintegrating outward. Everyone but Clockwork again screams in reaction and they are blinded once more.

No one dares speak; they are so shaken by what they just experienced.

Finally, when their vision clears, the young boy form of Clockwork breaks their stunned silence. "Is everyone all right?"

All nod except for Danny.

The adult form of Clockwork notices. "Are you OK, Danny?"

Clearly upset, the boy answers, "I'm fine. But what about Phantom?"

"What happens to him is up to you," The old man form of Clockwork calmly replies.

"What? What do you mean?"

"All that should have happened has happened, as it should be," The Time Master quietly says.

His voice mixed with shock and angry accusation, Danny cries, "You knew?"

"No! And yes!" The young Clockwork confesses. "When I had the Time Staff, I knew everything right before I was first attacked and everything now. But even the Staff doesn't allow for its bearer to see everything that concerns him. So, even though it was totally unknown to me of what would or could have occurred when it was out of my possession, I, too, had my part to play. It was very possible that what I now know may not have come to be. And I will unashamedly admit that I was terrified of not knowing what could happen! I understand now how uncertain the future can be and how much of it depends on what good people like you, Danny, and your **entire **family, do!... It has truly opened my eyes to the fact that steadfastness to the all the virtues--especially courage fueled by love, hope in the future, and faith in each other--will bring victory for those who embrace them!"

The adult Clockwork continues, "And I must tell you all now that what just happened has changed both worlds. For every minute that both of the Phantoms held the staff, a month of time was erased. And thank goodness that was all! If they had held onto the staff any longer, every minute would have exponentially increased to years." He pauses a moment, and then continues, "So, what that means is that now no one has any knowledge of what did happen these past several months."

"As far as the human world is concerned, then, there is no such thing as the "disasteroid incident", or anything else that occurred around it. I'm afraid, then, Danny, that you are no longer a worldwide hero and no one knows that you and Danny Fenton are one and the same anymore, except those who were encased in the time bubble, which, of course, is everyone here."

"Not even the other Valerie?" Danny asks. The old Clockwork shakes his head.

Turning to the others, Danny asks, "Is that all right with you?" Though their faces show mixed emotions about the event, they all nod, except for the future Valerie. He smiles slightly when he sees his parents nod their approval.

"Then, I guess it'll have to be OK, for now," Danny decides, then sighing slightly, he adds, "Anyhow, I thought I would like it all, but I **was** getting a little tired of all the attention! The way it was going, I was never going to get any privacy!"

Tucker blurts out, "You don't know the half of it, dude! The deputy mayor didn't know how much longer the city's budget could support that small army we used to keep out all the paparazzi and other hounds who were just itching to crawl all over you! And keeping all the kids at school in check was a monumental feat in itself!"

Danny looks at his friend in astonished shock and utters, "I didn't know!"

"We didn't want you to!" Tucker says, and then frowns.

The young Clockwork notices. "What's wrong, Tucker?"

"So you mean I'm not Mayor anymore? I won't be able to help Danny like I could before."

"I seriously doubt that. It just won't be as hard as it was. Besides, Vlad Master's mayor now," the adult Clockwork replies.

The teens all look at each other in disbelief.

But then Tucker slowly adds, "Oh, well, then, I guess that'll have to be OK...And with a half-smile he softly chuckles, "In many ways, I was really just a puppet mayor anyway!"

"But Danny and I are still a couple, right?" Sam asks, now wincing at how stupid a question that was.

The older Clockwork chuckles and says, "That has never changed. You both have just finally admitted it!"

She smiles, and looking at Danny, blushes.

Jazz then dares to ask, "But what about the disateroid? Won't it eventually occur anyhow?"

"No, my child," The youthful Clockwork assures her. "All of reality changed when the staff was activated like it was. The staff is very powerful, and the force that it shed during the two Phantoms' struggle in fact fractured the time stream and physical dimension. I will have a lot of work to do in the near future to repair all of that."

"What do you mean?" Sam asks.

He looks at her seriously and says, "It means that at this moment there are time and physical holes in the universe. If I don't repair them, people and ghosts could accidentally fall into them and be jettisoned to alternate times and alternate universes. That, needless to say, could be quite catastrophic for everyone."

Then the adult form of Clockwork pauses at the thought and then sighs, "Now if I may continue. All the ghosts will also have no knowledge of the disasteroid or their role, and all the ghosts are back to their normal ghost selves. Even if my staff had not altered time, they would have had amnesia. So, I'm sure you'll see more trouble from some of them in the future."

All those present remain silent, trying to take everything in and sort their reaction to it.

Turning to Danny, the older Clockwork again breaks the silence. "And speaking of ghosts, then, what are you going to do about **him**?" He points to the still incapacitated Phantom. "He will not phase back to the future until the effects of the Time Staff wear off."

Everyone turns to Danny in anticipation.


	31. Chapter 31 Last Encounter

**A/N: I do no own any characters yet. Here is Chapter 31, my ULTIMATE fav chap!!!! Enjoy!**

His Own Worst Enemy—Chapter 31—Last Encounter

"I know what you can do with him!" the older Valerie finally says. "Let the worm die! You all now see that he has caused nothing but heartache and destruction in your and, of course, my worlds!"

"No, my child, that is not your decision!" The adult Clockwork gently tells the future Valerie. "And now it is time for you to return!"

"But…!" She begins to object, but she's too late, as the old Clockwork has removed her medallion and she phases back to the future.

"So, Danny?" The youthful Clockwork insists.

"I don't know. Can I please talk to him--alone?"

The adult Clockwork replies, "By all means! He cannot harm you or anyone else now."

Danny slowly approaches the ailing and very red-eyed Phantom.

The older ghost manages a wicked, though weak, smirk when his own worst enemy meets him.

"Well, now, Danny. It's a dog-eat-dog world, isn't it?" Phantom coughs, then groans, reflexively raising one hand to his head. "Guess it's your turn to have me do all kinds of tricks and then gloat as I'm consumed with the decay, hmm? Serves me right, too! I almost succeeded in doing the same with you, as you well know!"

"You have been despicable and what you did to all of us--ghosts and humans—is unforgivable," The younger Phantom agrees.

"Yes, yes! But at least I won't fight the disease like you did! I'm all ghost, you know, and I won't be able to resist it. So oblivion will, I hope, come quickly to me."

"Yes, there is hope!" Danny gently says, surprising the older one.

"What do you mean?" The future ghost asks, coughing again.

"I have had a lot of time to think about you—me--us." He pauses, swallows hard, and continues, "All about why you are what you are…about everything…." He pauses again. "It was something that Clockwork said that struck me... And I remembered--and **you** should remember-- that you were created because of a great heartbreak, torn out of love...Your entire being—human and ghost—was wracked with unspeakable grief when you lost your family—your **entire **family…"

"No!" Phantom interrupts in protest, his voice suddenly pleading for the boy to stop.

"Hear me!" Danny demands and the other instantly submits.

The boy continues, "I understand how you couldn't deal with that grief. I had often imagined it myself, and feared becoming evil-- becoming you-- because of that dread. The dread of maybe not being able to prevent that grief in spite of all my efforts. But when I was poisoned, you made me realize something else more important…"

"What do you …?" The older ghost begins to interrupt, but Danny immediately and sharply rebukes him, "You will be quiet!"

Instantly yielding, the dark Phantom quiets, and Danny sighs and then presses on, "Like I was saying, you made me realized it when I did have to deal with that grief….when I thought I had killed my sister and my friends. In spite of all my efforts, they still died, and they died trying to help me. I was overcome with unspeakable grief and guilt that they had died at my hands, and I almost did fall into an evil despair like you wanted."

"But, something inside me kept assuring me that those whom I love—my entire family and even my friends in the Ghost Zone who believed in me—wouldn't have wanted me to give up and to fight on. That's why, in spite of my fear of becoming evil, and in spite of my doubt about myself, I was able to resist you. It was out of love for them and because of something else."

Phantom looks on, almost eager to hear more, but he says nothing.

"You see, there's something I never really understood until you said it to me yourself. About that compassionate little ghost half of yours that you despise. You know, the one that's **also** inside **me--**and the one I almost lost because of my stupidity. It had learned compassion and love from our human side, before that awful accident that created you. Don't you understand, then? It **has never** died in you! You just haven't let it have its say in your decisions. **That** is the 'something' that gave me the strength to resist."

The Phantom squirms, and is about to interrupt again when Danny commands, "Listen to me!"

The older ghost obeys and Danny continues, "And you should let it have a voice, as I always do. It has helped me be more responsible and focus on what's important. And I know that it's not only part of my compassionate side, it's really my braver side, too. I would not have any courage without it. So you see, wanting and doing the right thing is courage and compassion is strength. And that's when I realized that I wasn't anything like you, and, then, a little bit like you. But not like the evil side, but like that little compassionate good side. The hope in you."

"You can't mean it!" The Phantom finally objects in disbelief.

"Yes, I do!" The younger ghost insists. "And I now understand why Clockwork couldn't destroy you and why I won't now. But hear me! Listen more often to that little compassionate ghost inside of you and maybe one day you and I will be friends."

"Never!" Phantom cries out.

"Never is an awful long time, and like you said before, we have all the time in the world."

And with that, young Danny Phantom takes out the device his parents gave him and sprays the antidote over the older Dan Phantom, who coughs violently on it, but a moment later, is cured. But he's surprised that he remembers everything, not realizing that it's because of the ghost blood he partly shares with his younger self.

Meanwhile, the others who watch in the distance can see the cloud from the dull green antidote mist after it has been given to Phantom, and Tucker gasps, "He's curing him?

"Shh!!' Sam insists, and they watch.

Suddenly, the evil Phantom charges up his hands, threatening the younger, and though everyone else can see what's happening, and the adult Clockwork must restrain Sam, the younger Danny does nothing to defend himself.

But then Dan Phantom extinguishes his energy and hisses, "I will never forgive you for what you did for me!" And soars away, his mind wracked in confusion.

Finally, everyone rushes over to Danny and embraces him.

Then the older Clockwork utters, "There's a fine line between righteousness and wisdom, Danny! And what you did would put even the wisest of men to shame!"

"But did I do the right thing?" Danny anxiously asks him.

"Only time will tell!" The youthful Clockwork answers and will not say any more.

Then an idea strikes Sam and she retrieves the Book from her backpack and begins to hand it back to Clockwork.

"No, no, my child! I gave him to you!" He gently objects.

"But…you might need it, uh, him, again!... For the ghosts!" She insists.

The adult Clockwork answers, "Oh, don't worry about that!" And tapping his head, he adds, "I have it all up here!"

Sam's eyes widen and she blurts out, "You didn't just read the book! You **wrote** it!"

The older Clockwork winks at her, and then adds, "Now, if you all don't mind, I'm **very tired** and have a lot of work to do."

"What?" Jack and Maddie ask in unison, incredulous about what Clockwork just said.

"Don't you know that Time never rests?" The younger form of Clockwork wearily smiles.

Crossing her arms smugly in front of her and closing her eyes, Sam quips to Tucker, "Told you so!"

Jack then says, "And I think we also need to head home, too. I just hope we don't have too much explaining to do!"

"There's no need to worry about that!" The adult Clockwork replies. "As far as everyone else is concerned, it's an early Sunday morning and not one of you children has been missing."

Jazz approaches the Time Master and says, "I'm glad you and everyone else is OK. Will we ever see you again?"

Both Tucker and Sam both answer for Clockwork, "Only time will tell!"

And they all laugh.

Danny quickly soars to Sam's side and slides his hand into hers. Looking to the others, he knows that they all need no words to see that it is time to head home….

….The old man form of Clockwork, who is finally left alone, sighs, and then holding the staff, yells, "Time in!" And disappears from sight.

**A/N: Don't worry, there's still a little more of the story left! See ya soon. truephan**


	32. Chapter 32 Epilogue

**A/N: Sniff and ARRGGH! NOW this is the end! But, anyway, I do not own any characters. And WOW, my longest Epilogue ever!! Hope you Enjoy!! **

His Own Worst Enemy—Epilogue

After a restful and thankful Sunday, the teens return to Casper High the following day. As they look around them when they enter the school, they notice that they are **not** noticed by anyone.

Continuing down the hall, Danny whispers an aside to Sam, Tucker and Jazz. "Do you feel as weird as I do?"

"Yeah, but it's a nice—and familiar--weird!" Sam utters back.

Tucker agrees, "Yeah! It's nice not to have people ask you for favors from the city anymore."

"I'm fine with it, too! Being the sister of a superhero isn't the easiest thing to be!" Jazz adds, smiling softly at her brother.

Tucker then notices that the hallway looks different. He points and can't help but loudly say, "Hey, those posters aren't for the 'Homecoming Dance' anymore. They're for the 'Spring Dance'!"

A few students hearing him as they pass by give him a wide berth of passage, as they think his announcement is very strange, which, indeed, to them, it is.

Danny whispers back, "Quiet, Tuck! Time was rolled back, remember?"

"And reality was changed," Sam adds with a low voice.

"That's right! But why does it have to mean that I'm still dateless?!" He moans.

"You can still come with us!" Sam offers.

"No, thanks!" he says and then taking in a sad sigh, adds, "I think I'll just take a breather from all that for now. I still haven't explored all the cool programs on this even cooler PDA." He then begins to punch on it and drifts away from Danny, Sam and Jazz.

Looking after him, Danny remarks, "He still really wants to go!"

But before Tucker is totally out of their sight, Danny, Sam and Jazz see Valerie coming down the hallway. But because she's looking down at one of her books and not looking where she's going, she runs—literally--into Tucker, who's looking down at his PDA and is also not looking where he is going.

At their impact, they both loose their grip on what they're carrying, and her book and his PDA are both accidentally tossed into the air. Tucker and Valerie, who both end up flat on their backs, gasp as their prized possessions fly upward. But then, they each react quickly and catch the other's things. Sighing and closing their eyes in relief, they both pause, clutching the caught object.

Finally, they both open their eyes, spy the multitude of Spring Dance posters at the same time, and still slightly dazed, slowly sit up.

Handing her book back to her, Tucker sheepishly says, "Uh, sorry, Valerie, I guess this is yours?"

"Uh, thanks, Tucker," She says, uncharacteristically using his first name. "That book is priceless! It belonged to my grandmother and has our family's entire history in it!" Clutching the book closely to her chest, she then hands him his PDA.

"Wow!" Tucker says, getting up and helping her to her feet. "And thanks for my PDA's save!! That is priceless to me, too!"

"Well, looks like we both understand the importance of valuable things!" Valerie weakly blurts out.

They both stand silently at each other and then looking away briefly, glance at the posters and then at each other again.

Tucker then manages to blurt out, "Uh, hey, Valerie, who are you going with to the Home…er, Spring Dance?"

She says with a touch of sadness, "It looks like I may not have a date for this dance, either, because I'm too busy with both of my jobs."

"Oh, I can't believe that! You're much too popular for that!" He answers.

She looks at him in disbelief. "Just where have you been? I've been in the 'out' crowd for several months, ever since that creepy ghost kid loused up my life."

Wincing a bit at her comment, but then thinking about how he would like her to prevent her from ever becoming as bitter as her older future self, Tucker responds, "Well, I never noticed your being anything but 'in', especially when you keep such cool things as your family's book."

"Really?" She asks, totally flabbergasted by his comment.

Just then, Danny, Sam and Jazz walk up to them.

"Are you two OK?" Danny asks, slightly embarrassed at butting in. "I mean, we saw the crash and then you both were just standing there, looking at each other."

"Yeah, we're fine, dude. We were just talking, that's all," Tucker finally says. "Well, then, see ya!" He turns, disappointed at his failure to ask Valerie out, and walks away.

Valerie looks after him and pauses. Then she turns to the others.

"Ya know, I never thought about Tucker's being anything more than a techno geek," She finally says. "Now, I'm not too sure. And if I didn't know better, I would say that he was about to ask me to the dance."

Totally surprising Danny and Jazz, Sam nonchalantly replies, "Yeah, you really don't know too much about him. He's really quite a guy. And he's a very good dancer."

Trying to hide their amazed reaction to what Sam just said—but doing a bad job of it-- Danny and Jazz silently look at her.

Sam smiles and winks back at them.

Sam continues, "Too bad, he doesn't have a date to the dance yet."

Danny jabs her slightly in the ribs, trying to get her to be quiet, but she pushes his arm away and, ignoring him, adds, "Yeah, poor Tucker! So many girls constantly bug him to take them dancing all the time that sometimes he needs to use his PDA to help him decide! You know, he spins the girls' names on a roulette and then decides after it stops. But it's frustrating for him; and he told us just yesterday that he's giving it up all together. He finds the 'roulette' thing so demeaning, but he doesn't know any other way to be fair to all the girls. I hate to think that you turned him down to go to the dance just now, because he really doesn't want to use that roulette anymore."

Now Danny and Jazz can't hide their extreme shock of what Sam just said.

"But…" Valerie begins, confused. "But he didn't ask me."

Sam smiles smugly and counters, "Oh, but he did! You got his drift; you said it yourself. Remember, he's not used to asking. Usually he has to fight the girls off."

Valerie frowns a little, trying to sort out everything that Sam just said and how Tucker reacted. She hasn't been able to go to any social event in the past year, was way too busy to socialize, and she usually didn't pay attention to Tucker, so she can't argue the point. Then she looks down at her family's book and smiles. Finally, she says, "Well, I hope he didn't change his mind!"

Jazz, after getting over the initial shock of what Sam was saying, finally understands Sam's intensions, and adds, "Hey! I already asked him and I was supposed to be the next one on his list!"

Now Sam and Danny look at Jazz incredibly.

"Oh, I'm sorry, maybe,…" Valerie begins.

"NO!" Jazz shouts a little too loudly that the other three teens jump. "I mean, I'm sure we can work things out. When you get a free period, can you catch up with me?"

"Uh, sure, Jazz….Well, See ya, guys!" Valerie says just as the bell rings. She and Jazz quickly walk away.

As they head to their next class, Danny whispers to Sam, "And just **what** were you doing just now?"

"We both agreed that we should help Tucker get a date for the dance, remember?" Sam calmly replies.

"But, not like this!" Danny objects.

"Well, then, how would you have done it?" she counters.

Raising his finger in answer, as if he is about to say something, but knowing that he doesn't have a reply, Danny utters instead, "Uh, good point?"

She smiles in triumph and they enter their classroom.

* * *

Finally, the day of the Home--,er, Spring Dance arrives. Hoards of students, dressed for the occasion, excitedly converge on the gym, including Danny and Sam.

Along the way, they run into Dash and Paulina. Dash, always on the prowl to insult Danny, teasingly and loudly laughs, "Well, look who's finally become the real 'odd' couple—the goth and the geek!"

Everyone around Danny and Sam scoff at them. Sam fumes, but Danny says nothing. Instead, he merely pulls Sam away and continues toward the gym with the echo of Dash, Paulina and several other students' laughter still ringing in their ears.

"Maybe this 'reality and time' change thing wasn't such a good thing! Why didn't you say something to him?" Sam demands.

"C'mon, Sam! For once, I just want to enjoy myself with just you and I don't care what anyone says about it. I'm not going to let anyone ruin this night for us!"

Sam, slightly shocked at his response, smiles, squeezes his hand and they continue into the gym.

After several dances, the DJ takes a break and Danny and Sam head over to the refreshments. Sam idly talks to Danny as they drink their punch, but all Danny does is smile and listen to her.

Suddenly concerned that Danny is indeed unusually subdued given that they're at a dance and he wanted to enjoy himself, Sam finally says, "You're awfully quiet tonight, Danny. Are you OK?"

"Uh-huh!" He half says.

"Danny!" She repeats, now more irritated.

"Oh, sorry, Sam! I'm really enjoying myself. Really. I was just thinking how important you are to me, so I think I'm more content than just having 'fun'."

She smiles, but is slightly worried about his comment.

Just then, who should walk up to them than Tucker, arm-in-arm with Jazz **and **Valerie.

"Tucker!" Sam excitedly utters, truly happy to see him. "We thought you weren't coming!"

"Yeah, me too! But then, these fine ladies insisted that I escort them **both **to the dance. And how can I resist such beauty and flattery at the same time?"

Jazz and Valerie smile.

"What gives?" Sam asks Jazz.

Danny, again, says nothing, but is amused by the scene.

"Well, he never did say 'yes'!" Jazz replies.

"Huh?" Danny then responds.

"I asked him as a friend to the, er, dance when we were at, er, you know, out there, —the future—sort of, and he never had the opportunity to give me an answer."

Valerie, clearly and totally flabbergasted by Jazz's apparently incoherent statement, utters, "Uh, what did she just say?"

Danny and Sam are also a little bemused, but Sam quickly answers, "Oh, you know. She was his future date, remember?"

"Oh, yeah,…" Valerie mutters, again still quite confused.

Jazz continues, "Anyhow, I felt that it would be awfully selfish of me to not let Valerie have an opportunity to get to go to a dance, especially with Tucker. And since we both wanted to go, we both asked him and, so, here we are!"

All five teens pause a moment, and then Danny says not all together subtly, "Hey, Sam, could you and the girls ask the DJ for some song requests? I want to ask Tucker something."

Sam looks at him oddly but answers, "Uh, sure, Danny!" And all three girls head toward the DJ.

Danny quickly asks Tucker, "Hey, Tuck, are you all right with having Valerie along? I mean, aren't you worried that she might find out about everything? She wouldn't believe a word of it!"

"No, I'm not worried! You know I can keep a secret…" He stops a moment remembering about some of his past blunders, and adds, "I mean, THAT secret!! Anyway, you were able to keep your secret for so long with your parents hanging around you all the time, so my keeping your secret safe will be easy. Besides, she probably won't be around us as much as your parents were to you."

"OK, Tuck if you think so," Danny concedes.

"Thanks, dude." He pauses again, briefly reluctant to confide in Danny, but then decides to do just that. "Don't worry, though, OK, Danny? It's just that I can't help it; but I feel sorry for her. I really don't want her to grow up to be like her future self. You can understand that, right?"

Danny could not be more aware of that. "You know very well I do. I think you're right, then, Tuck. Just let me know if I can help if you need it in the future, OK?"

Tucker smiles but only answers with a nod.

Just then, the girls return. Valerie and Jazz are laughing but Sam is fuming.

"What's wrong?" Danny asks, noticing Sam.

Jazz, stifling her laugh and catching her breath, answers, "Oh, it's nothing!" And turning back to Sam, she continues, "Aw, c'mon, Sam! After all, this is a _**dance**_**!**"

The boys look to them, confused.

Valerie, wiping a tear, continues, "Let me explain. Sam requested goth poetry readings from Padu Tamkur, and the DJ said he didn't have anything like that in his collection."

"Well, that was my request," Sam grumbles, her arms still crossed.

Jazz picks up where Valerie left off, "And so then the DJ offered to play some dumb boys' band's songs, which he thought was close enough to what Sam wanted, and…" But she doesn't go on, because she and Valerie lose it again and laugh. Then the others, even Sam, join them.

Finally, the music starts again.

"Well, lovely ladies, that's our cue!" Tucker announces, still chuckling a little. Then grabbing each of the girls by the hand, he twirls them expertly onto the dance floor.

Finally calmed down, Sam observes, "He really is a good dancer!"

Danny smiles but then thinking about his conversation with Tucker, says nothing.

Sam studies his face, getting more worried. Leading him outside so that she can hear him better, she softly says, "Danny, are you OK?"

"I'm fine. It's just that I've had everything that has happened on my mind lately. I realize how so much more important everything here is to me. And…and I still wonder whether I made the right decision."

She grabs his hand and instantly reacting to his first comment, excitedly says, "I know what you mean. Everything still haunts me, too. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night in a sweat, having just dreamt of your being lost--or maybe being taken-- and I can't find you. That's the worst feeling in the world!" She then cringes a little, because she suddenly realizes that that's not what Danny had really meant.

But he smiles, puts his arm gently around her and then looking up at the stars, softly says, "And I love you, too!"

She blushes and softly utters, "I know. And you know that I do, too."

And he turns to her and they briefly kiss. But then, he pulls gently away and looks silently up at the stars, still filled with all the emotions of all the events that had happened.

They continue to stand in silence, arm-in-arm, and as they look up at the stars, while the music plays in the background, each of them has the same thought on their minds.

Finally, Sam quietly asks, "Do you think _**he'll**_ ever change?"

"I don't know, Sam. But I'm never going to stop hoping."

THE END

* * *

**A/N: That's it!! I am so thrilled that you stayed with me along the way, especially Angelus-alvus, DPCrazy, crazyvi, Nicktoons Squad, pearl84,Tomboy601, Netbug009, White Purity, megaphantom, dannyphantom92, 'E.L.P.H.I.E.', Miko in training, Samantha Seldowitz****?? and all you nameless 1500?? Readers who took a peek at this story. Hope I don't sound like I'm crowing too much, but I think this is definitely my best story and the future ones may seem like a let down, but they will still be A LOT of fun, so give them a try! In fact, after cleaning up my previous stories a little (sorry, I am such a stickler!!), I'll be posting a very short but sweet story called, "Rumor Has It" very soon. I wrote it BEFORE "His Own Worst Enemy", so if it seems to "back-pedal", just remember that I actually wrote "RHI" first—Uhm, on second thought, you might think that Sam, Danny, and Tucker COULD have just fallen into one of those holes to an alternate time dimensions by mistake and that's why "RHI" happened… Just like a whole slew of other stories out there on FF!!!....Anyhow, I hope you liked this story and had as much fun as I did!!! Thanks again for all your input and support, and I hope to hear from y'all real soon.**

**truephan**


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